Life in Radiant Garden
by miano53
Summary: A look into the somewhat humorous lives of the characters of Kingdom Hearts. Only one chapter left until I end it.
1. Cake Obessions and Stomach Aches

_Update 1-21-14__: Well, I still own nothing about this fic, but there'll be many changes and edits made to this fic as I saw one too many typos. So, enjoy the newly revamped chapters._

_-miano53 _

Chapter One: Cake Obsessions and Stomach Aches

One night in Radiant Garden, the nineteen-year-old Terra brought home twenty cakes and took them home due to hunger and a bit of…insanity. Carrying the boxes into the kitchen, he managed to wake up his eighteen-year-old adopted sister, Aqua, who was sleeping in her room nearby by excessive slamming of the kitchen door.

Looking at her clock, she saw that it was around 3 a.m. "What the heck…? Who's up now?" she groaned, got out of bed and put on her night robe.

Going into the kitchen, she saw the massive amounts of cake that ranged from little mini chocolate cakes to large, three tier cakes. When she saw Terra enter the kitchen with the last two cakes, she screamed, "What the heck is this?"

Looking down at the two cakes and back at Aqua he said, smiling and parading the cakes, "It's a bakery!"

"Where did you get this cake?" Aqua asked him.

"Tifa gave it to me," Terra replied, placing the final two cakes on the counter.

"Are you gonna eat all of it?" Aqua asked.

"Well, eventually," he said. "I'm not gonna eat it in one hit. Two days later, I'll be like freakin'…dead."

"Terra, what if she's trying to poison you?" Aqua asked him, looking worried.

"What? With cake? Are you serious? What is it 'You live by the cake, you die by the cake!'" Terra said, making a cutting motion across his throat.

The two began arguing with Aqua wondering what Terra was going to do with the cakes and Terra wanting to eat at least one cake before Eraqus, their adoptive father, found out. The arguing was so loud that it reached the second floor, where the thirteen-year-old Ventus was sleeping. He woke up, came downstairs and walked into the kitchen. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "What's going on? I heard argu…"

Eyes widening, he gasped and said, "Where did the cake come from?"

"Tifa gave it to me," Terra replied, looking smug.

"Tell her I said 'Thank you"," Ven said, staring at the cakes.

"I'll tell her you said 'Thank you'," Terra said.

"Why does she give you cake?" Ven asked.

"'Cause three years ago, I did a joke about how much I like cake and now she gives me cake," Terra replied.

"You should tell her you love 'Dead Fantasy'," Ven said, still staring at the cakes.

"Alright, I'll tell her that," Terra said, smirking.

Noticing how late it was, Aqua told Terra, "You have to put him to bed before Dad finds out."

"Dude, you gotta go to bed," Terra told Ven.

"Aw, I don't wanna," Ven pouted.

Getting an idea, Terra asked, "You want some cake?"

"Yeah," Ven said, excitedly.

Grabbing the small, three inch in diameter chocolate and peanut butter flavored cake and giving it to Ven, he said, "Here."

Looking at the cake in disappointment, Ven asked, "Just a piece?"

"No, dude, you can have the whole thing," Terra replied.

Eyes widening again and gasping to the point of near hyperventilation, Ven smiled as a beam of light from the heavens shot down on him.

'Er, where's that light coming from?' Terra thought.

Raising the cake to the heavens, Ven began singing in Latin, "_Gloria in Excelsis Deo!_"

'Okay…that's creepy,' Terra thought again.

"Um, take it to your room," he said to Ven.

"_Ave Maria…._" he sung as he walked back to his room, the light fading in the kitchen.

* * *

The next morning, Terra, ready for his classes at the city's university, went to Ventus's room to wake him up. Ven wasn't there. Hearing crying from his bathroom, Terra walked further into the messy room. Banging on the closed door, he yelled, "Ven, you okay?"

"My stomach," Ven yelled.

"Er, too much cake?" Terra asked.

"Yeah," Ven replied.

"Was it good?" Terra asked.

"Heck yeah!" Ven replied happily.

"Okay, I'll meet you in the car," Terra replied and left.

* * *

An hour and thirty five minutes late, Ven arrived at the car. Sweating and panting, he entered and the two sped off. Once at the school, Terra stopped the car in front of the school with a loud screech. In Radiant Garden, that's not allowed due to supervisors, security threats and the orange cones the supervisors randomly place. Terra didn't know and he really didn't care at the time.

"Go," he yelled at Ven.

"Terra, I'm not supposed to…" Ven said, looking scared.

"Dude, just go!" Terra yelled.

As Ven exited the car, one of the part-time supervisors, a blonde haired woman named Celes Chere, came running out from the school's front doors, yelling, "Sir! Sir, this is not the designated drop off area. Please leave your child at the side of the school. You cannot drop him off here."

Terra, still not caring, nudged at Ventus and said, "Watch this."

Looking at supervisor Chere, he said, * "_Señora, yo estoy en una prisa. Yo no lo puedo dejar caer lejos en el lado de la escuela y yo no supe. Perdón me._"

Noticing that supervisor Chere had no idea what he just said, Terra looked at Ven and said, "That's how you do it, dude! That's how you do it! Just speak in another language!"

Or, so he thought.

Knowing exactly what he just said, she replied with, ** "_Esto no es la gota designada de área. Deje por favor a su niño en el lado de la escuela. Usted no lo puede dejar caer de aquí. Aquí está malo, allí bueno. ¡Yo no soy estúpido y usted no lo puede pasar lejos como un latinoamericano o una español, _Terra Pellegrino!"

With that embarrassment, Terra sped off, dropping Ven off and now having to explain to Aqua and Eraqus about the phone call from the school a few hours later.

* * *

*Translation: "Lady, I'm in a hurry. I cannot drop him at the side of the school and I did not know. Sorry.

**Translation: This is not the designated drop off area. Please leave your child at the side of the school. You cannot drop him off here. Here is bad, over there is good. I'm not stupid and you can't pass for a Latino or a Spanish guy, Terra Pellegrino!

_That's it for now. Just R&R, please :D_


	2. The New Ninth Grade Math Tortureer

_Disclaimer:_ _I own nothing, not even the computer I typed this on or the inspiration I got from watching TV. :(_

_Life in Radiant Garden_

The New Ninth Grade Math Torture…er, Teacher

Just like anyone that has to go to school, the first day of school was dreaded by most of Radiant Garden's high school students. Ventus was no exception. Seven thirty that blustery morning of September 1, he stood outside, waiting for school to open. The reason why he was there so early was due to Aqua's driving (and Terra being forever banned from dropping Ventus off at school due to the Spanish speaking incident the year before by Aerith). As he waited, a trickle of students had arrived, one of them being his friend, Lea.

"Heya, Ven," Lea said, slapping Ven on the back.

"Ow, hey Lea," Ven said painfully.

"Didja hear?" Lea asked.

"Here what?" Ven said.

"There's a new math teacher," Lea replied.

"Where did you hear that?" Ven asked.

"Facebook," Lea replied as the school bell rung.

Once at his Math class, Ven found out that there were as many as thirty students there. Taking a seat, he saw that Lea, Lea's friends Isa, Yuffie, Zack, Luneth, as well as many other students were there. He was about to wave a quick "Hello" to them, when the ground began to shake from large footsteps. Turning to the door, he saw that the door was kicked clean of the hinges.

"Hello, worthless students," the new teacher, Dilan (formerly of Ansem the Wise's guard; was fired for…unspeakable reasons) said to them.

"I'm your new instructor," he said, walking in and punching the front desk, turning it into dust.

Turning to the students, he said, "No one's ever failed my classes. They just live through it."

'This man's crazy. He needs to die or somethin',' Ven thought, eyes bulged in fear.

"I can assure you that these next twelve weeks will be the worst _years_ of your miserable lives. Your spines will break. Your teeth will ache. Your eyes will be bloodshot," Dilan said, pacing in front of the class as if the students were prey.

"Um, uh," everyone managed to say.

"You will pass this math course in style or you will be carted out via medical stretchers. Everyone will follow the rules of the class. First rule, no talking," Dilan told them.

"Er, does that…?" Zack was about to ask when Instructor Dilan, pulling a gun from his suit jacket, shot him with a tranquiller dart.

As if nothing happened, Instructor Dilan continued with, "Second rule, there's no eating in my class."

Taking out a box of donuts, he said, "Would anyone care for a donut?"

Silence fell in the class until Lea said, "Uh, I'll eat one." Everyone gasped as Dilan smiled evilly, walked over to Lea and gave him the box.

"Pick your favorite," he said as Lea opened the box. Taking out a jelly filled donut, Lea began eating, worrying Ven and the others.

"How's it taste?" Instructor Dilan asked him.

"It's a delightful taste sensation," Lea replied, smiling. "Ooh, its strawberry!"

Quickly changing his mood, Dilan roared, "No eating in my classroom!" He proceeded to punch Lea in the face, sending the poor teen flying from his desk, through the wall and into the next five classrooms.

Once again, as if nothing happened, Dilan said to the students, "Third rule, no cell phones or electronic devices are allowed in my class." Much to Yuffie's horror, her cell phone began ringing with the tune "Sanctuary" by Utada Hikaru.

Instructor Dilan walked over to Yuffie, grabbed her purse, took out the cell phone and threw it to the ground, smashing it into several pieces. "Hey! That was my mom!" she yelled.

Pulling out his dart gun again, he shot Yuffie, saying, "No talking."

Walking back to the front of the class and leaving now sleeping Yuffie, Instructor Dilan told his students, "Last rule, no drinking of anything is allowed in my class."

Isa, however, didn't hear this and was drinking out of his water bottle. Ven quickly turned to him and motioned for him to stop drinking. "What?" he yelled and was grabbed by the collar by Instructor Dilan.

"Did you hear what I said?" he asked Isa.

"Um, not really, no. I don't really care," Isa said.

"No drinking in my classroom!" Dilan roared, throwing poor Isa out the third floor window.

Turning to the "survivors", Instructor Dilan told the class, "Now, if anyone's man enough to stay in this class, you _may _pass with a 'C'."

Turning to the board to teach, he didn't hear the massive amount of students that had left. Outside and down the hall, most of them could've sworn they heard, "Worthless students get back here!" By the end of the day, poor Ven was scarred for life, causing Eraqus to question Radiant Garden Schools' hiring methods.


	3. The Chocolate Sale

_Disclaimer__: I own nothing, not Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts. Kinda wish I did…._

_Life in Radiant Garden_

The Chocolate Sale

About a month after the Math teacher incidents (with Instructor Dilan being transferred over to the athletics department), the new Ninth Grade Math teacher was a man named Sazh Katzroy. On the morning of October 3, he was met with a petrified class. Sitting at his new desk, he looked around and noticed that several of his students either had broken arms, legs in casts, bloodshot eyes, and/or toothaches. 'Okay…what the heck happened to them?' he thought.

"Alright, let's start with the basics," Instructor Sazh said to the students, receiving fearful yelps from the class.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Uh, are you gonna shoot us for talking?" Zack asked him.

"Uh, no. Why?" Sazh asked, afraid of what they were going to say.

"Aren't you gonna throw kids out the window for drinking water?" Luneth asked him.

"No. Why? Did…he…?" Sazh asked Isa, who managed to survive the fall by landing on a random homeless guy. Isa, in a wheelchair with two broken legs, said nothing and just whimpered.

"Oh, are you gonna break our cell phones if it rings?" Yuffie asked, holding her purse close to her chest.

"No. He broke phones too? I'm pretty sure that's going against student-teacher rules…" Sazh said, a bit shocked.

"Aren't you gonna right-hook us into next week for eating in class? 'Cause I got diabetes and I need to eat, " Lea said (who had a cast on his broken neck, left arm and stitches on his forehead). His attendance in class scared the wits out of Sazh.

"Lea, how the heck you survive that?" he yelled.

"Well, I landed on a few kids in the last classroom," he replied, not bothering to say his usual (but somewhat annoying) catchphrase.

"O-okay, um, since the majority of the school's funding goin' to the athletics department, we gotta find funding somehow. So, Prof. Xehanort of our department has asked for all of you to participate in a candy sale that runs until the first of next month. If you do, he allowed us to give you all 40 extra points to your math final," Sazh said, stacking a few boxes onto his desk. Within moments, the whole class was given packets filled with catalogs, order forms and money envelopes.

* * *

By the end of the day, the ninth grade math class had decided how they were to sell the chocolates for the extra points and had received the boxes for that. Ven had partnered with Luneth for the sale. Lea partnered with Yuffie and Isa chose Zack as his selling/pushing his wheelchair partner. Meeting outside the school, the group decided to make the sale more interesting. "Okay, I bet that Isa and I will sell 5000 of these chocolates by the end of the month," Zack said to them.

"What? Man, please. You and crippled boy here won't win," Lea said, mocking the two.

"Oh yeah. Well I bet 6000 munny sayin' that we do," Isa said, shocking the group.

'6000 munny? Do you know what I can do with that?' Ven thought to himself.

"I'll take that bet and raise it to 8000," Luneth said.

"Oh yeah. Well, I bet 10,000 munny that Lea and me will win," Yuffie said proudly.

"Okay, well it seems we got ourselves a bet! Anyone want to chicken out?" Zack said.

"We're in," Lea said.

"We'll partake," Luneth said.

"This is gonna be easy," Yuffie said, smiling.

"Well, I could help Aqua pay for stuff with 10,000 munny. I'm in," Ven said, smiling with a wide grin.

After making the bet, the teens, with the exception of Ven and Luneth, left to start selling. "What are we waiting for?" Luneth asked Ven.

"Well, you know how everyone else is walking around town for selling?" Ven asked.

"Yeah," Luneth replied.

"Well, we have the upper hand," Ven said proudly.

"How? Lea and Isa are injured. Their groups will get the most sympathy, thus having more people buy chocolate from them," Luneth said, not seeing Ven's point.

"But, we have a car. Terra and Aqua can drive us to people's houses to sell," Ven said.

"Oh," Luneth said, the cloud of dark…er, doubt leaving him.

Calling up his adoptive brother, Terra, Ven waited patiently for him to pick up. After several rings, he picked up, yelling, "'Lo!"

"'Lo'? What kind of greeting is that?" Ven asked.

"Eh, I'm trying something new," Terra replied. "So, what do you want?"

"Um, aren't you gonna pick us up?" Ven asked him.

"'Us'?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, Luneth and me are gonna sell some chocolates to help out the math department. We can get extra credit if we sell enough. And we bet 10,000 munny," Ven told him, mumbling the last part.

"That's great, but…I have to write a 75 page paper on how to find and keep world peace through engineering. So, call Aqua. She's supposed to pick you guys up anyway," Terra told him, disappointing Ven. With that, Ven quickly hung up and called Aqua. The greeting from her wasn't any better.

"'Sup, Ven," she said, the sound of a blow dryer in the background.

"'Sup'?" Ven asked.

"I'm trying out a new greeting. Do you like it?" Aqua asked him.

"Nope, don't like it," he said quickly.

"Quiet. Well, what do you need? I'm at work," Aqua asked.

"Aren't you gonna pick us up?" Ven asked. There was silence over the phone.

"Oh crap! Annette, finish her hair!" she screamed over the phone. "Okay, I'll be there in ten, Ven." The phone hung up with a loud click.

About five minutes later, Aqua showed up with the family's car, wearing her stylist uniform from work. When she noticed Luneth, she asked, "What's he doing here?"

"Oh, we have to sell chocolate for the math department. He's helping me," Ven explained, getting in the backseat.

"Oh and we have a bet with Zack, Yuffie, Lea and Isa about who can sell the most. The prize's 10,000 munny," Luneth explained further, sitting in the front seat and Ven face palming.

"Wait, you two bet 10,000 munny?" Aqua asked as she drove away from the school.

"Yeah, and I can't wait 'til we win," Luneth said excitedly.

"Eh, you know that Dad doesn't like gambling," Aqua told Ven.

"Yeah, but I can help pay for your tuition if we win," Ven said.

"That's no excuse, Ven. I'm not helping in…." she was about to say when she saw something shocking.

At the stoplight near a series of apartments, she saw one of her high school rivals, Angeal Heweley, helping out his cousin Zack and Isa. He talked with one of the tenants, saying, "Ma'am, our cousin here has cancer and needs the money to pay for chemo. The doctors say that he'll only have seven months to live without it. We're just asking you to buy a few chocolate so the money can go for the health care costs," he said, lying his butt off.

"Oh, well, I can't really eat chocolate, but I'll buy some to help that poor boy," the older woman said.

"Thank you ma'am, " Isa said.

Turning back to the road, Aqua said, "He is not showing me up today. Ven, we're selling those chocolates. Then I can show that jerk face what's what!"

"Okay!" the two boys yelled excitedly as Aqua slammed on the gas, speeding off.

* * *

The first of the houses was in the middle class district of the city. The home was nothing special as all the houses in the neighborhood had the same white front, red roofed houses and white picket fences with uniformed green grass. Luneth and Ven, holding small boxes with their order forms, went pass the fence and to the door. There, Luneth gave Ven pointers on how to sell chocolate. "Look kind. Be enthusiastic and if all else fails, lie your butt off," he said.

"Okay, I'll try," Ven said and knocked on the door.

There wasn't a response. Ven knocked on the door again and received a raspy, "Who is it?" from behind the door.

"Um, we're here to sell chocolate," he said. Loud banging and the sounds of falling flower pots came from behind the door. Just before it opened, the two could've sworn they hear a cat yowl.

When the door opened, the two cringed as they saw an old woman who looked like Death was about to take her (she looked at least 105 years old) stand at the door. Wearing nothing but a pink house dress, shoes and thick glasses, she said rasping, "Who is it?"

"Um, ma'am we're here to sell chocolate," Luneth said.

"Chocolate? Oh, I remember when they first invented chocolate," the elderly woman said.

"'When they first invented chocolate'?" the two said aloud.

"Yeah, it was 1912 when the cacoa seed came here from Destiny Islands along with the Paopu fruit. That how I met my first through seventh husbands," the old woman said, reminiscing.

"Yeah, okay, are you gonna buy chocolate or not?" Luneth said.

"Luneth…" Ven said, noticing that he was really rude.

"Why should I buy your chocolate?" the old woman rasped loudly.

Thinking of a lie quick, Ven said, "It'll make your already beautiful skin look younger." He then stared at the many spider veins on the woman and cringed.

"Oh, oh hoo, it'll make me younger?" the old woman asked, laughing.

"Yeah, just eat it and in five weeks, you'll look better and feel younger. Luckily for you, their only 100 munny each," Luneth lied.

"Oh, I'll buy twenty. That'll help me keep up with my man!" the old woman yelled.

"'Your man'?" Ven asked as Luneth gathered the chocolate and the order form.

As she signed it, she said, "You heard me my man."

"Is everything alright honey?" someone from behind her asked. Luneth and Ven looked and saw a very young man that looked at least 25 stand at the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine, hubby. Let's just get these chocolates inside," the old woman said and the younger man grabbed the chocolates and closed the door.

The two walked back to the car with the boxes, scarred for life. "What happened?" Aqua asked.

"Cougar," was the only thing Ven could say.

"Well, hey, you made at least 2000 munny," she said.

"Well actually 2200 munny, but that lady is…nasty," Luneth said, trying not to think about the…mismatched couple.

* * *

The next of the houses was on the next block over. There, they found a house that was a bit different than the others. Never mind, it was very different as it was the largest house in the entire block. The house wasn't even a house; it was a fortress made of marble, gold, rubies, silver, platinum and any other precious stones you can think of. There was a large wall that surrounded the whole fort, making the place look impenetrable. Guard towers were placed at the four corners of the fort and each guard was armed with sniper rifles.

"Okay, who lives here?" Ven asked.

"I dunno, but this place makes Fort Knox look like a joke," Luneth told Ven as the two exited the car with their boxes. At the entrance, there was a camera and a call phone. Luneth pressed the call button and a face appeared on screen.

"What do you want?" the man said.

"Uh, we're here to sell chocolates. We were wondering if you guys could…?" Luneth said.

"I'm sorry. But all visitors must make an appointment before…" the guard was about to say when yelling was heard in the background. The guard was pushed out of the way and a familiar face (well, familiar to Luneth) was on screen. The bestselling author of the books "Legend of the Dragoon" and owner of Highwind Publishing Inc., Kain Highwind, had appeared on screen.

"Oh my god! OMG! Oh my god! OMG!" Luneth yelled excitedly.

"What's with you?" Ven asked.

"Ven, this is Kain Highwind. _The_ Kain Highwind," Luneth said, trying to explain.

"So, what's so special about him?" Ven asked.

"Gosh, you're clueless. He's the world famous author of the 'Legend of the Dragoon' series. His books are always on the best seller list! And I'm a huge fan!" Luneth explained, yelling at the end.

"Alright, what do you two want?" Kain Highwind asked them.

"Um, we're here to sell chocolate. Mr. Highwind, we were hoping that you will buy some and sign my special edition 'Legend of the Dragoon: Destiny'. Just put 'To my most loyal fan, Luneth Topapa'," Luneth said, holding up his book.

"Unless you all have chocolate covered raisins, I'm not signing," Highwind told the teens.

Ven looked at Luneth and whispered, "Er, do we have chocolate covered raisins?"

"Remember rule number 3, if all else fails, lie your butt off," he said.

"We have about 30 boxes," Luneth said and opened his box, showing the good. The screen turned off and the gate opened. Highwind walked over to the boys (wearing one of his finest business suits) with wallet and pen at the ready. He signed the book and looked inside the box. By some miracle, there were indeed 30 boxes of chocolate covered raisins.

"Alright, how much?" he asked.

"They're only 200 munny each," Ven told him.

"I'll give you 180 munny for each box," he had told them.

"190 munny," Luneth said.

"175," Mr. Highwind said.

"189," Luneth said, getting frustrated.

"165," Mr. Highwind said.

"Okay, 170 and ten boxes of peanut brittle," Luneth said.

"Done," Highwind said and gave the two the money.

After giving the man his items and signing his name on the order form, Ven told him, "Wow, you're cheap."

"I'd like to think of myself as frugal," Highwind said and the gate closed.

* * *

The last place for the day (since it was getting late) was an apartment in the district known as Tech Town. Entering the apartment complex of _Antonia_, the two boys walked into the apartment thinking that no one would buy their chocolate. Much to their surprise, 19 of the 30 residents bought at least two boxes. Feeling good, they came to the last of the apartments on the third floor.

Knocking on the door, they heard, "Who is it?"

"We're here selling stuff," Ven said. The door opened and the two saw that it was Prof. Even from Radiant Garden's castle (and of Ansem the Wise's research and development team). He was the former science teacher of the high school and now teaches classes at the University as well as the castle.

"Oh, you must be Eraqus's son," he said to Ven.

"Um, yeah. Uh, do you want to buy some chocolate?" Ven said.

"Chocolate? Did you say…'chocolate'?" Prof. Even said, seemingly very interested.

"Yes sir. We have peanut brittle, peanut butter cups, Mary Jane's, Twix, and anything you can think of," Luneth said, not noticing that something was very wrong with the Professor.

"Chocolate? Chocolate! Cho-co-o-o-late!" Prof. Even screamed to the tops of his lungs like a mad man.

"Chocolate! Chocolate!" he kept screaming, looking at the heavens (or the ceiling in this case). The two boys at first stared at him, then backed away _very _slowly. When they were at the stairs, the two bolted for the door with Prof. Even chasing after them. Ven and Luneth screamed like little girls as they ran while the other residence watched and had pity on the boys.

Outside, Aqua waited for the boys to come out. When they did, she saw that they were being chased by a mad man screaming "Chocolate". "Start the car!" Ven screamed. Aqua turned on the engine, unlocked the door and the boys jumped into the car with the boxes flying in first.

Speeding off with Prof. Even chasing after them, the two were scarred for life again. "Well, how did it go?" Aqua asked calmly, speeding at ungodly speeds.

"How do you think it went?" Luneth yelled.

"Uh, not very well?" she asked, eyes fixed on the road, watching for cops and the occasional jaywalker.

"We…we managed to sell 38 boxes until Luneth here wanted to knock on Prof. Even's door," Ven said angrily.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea. You wanted to get all the houses, but I said no. Did you listen to me? No," Luneth yelled back.

The car suddenly stopped and Ven nearly flew out of the windshield. He fell back into the backseat with a thud and saw that there was construction being done. The police was detouring cars, making traffic very slow. "Aw man," Luneth said.

"They're blocking the road to my house." Aqua was going to say something when she heard the faint scream of "Chocolate".

She immediately looked in her rear view mirror and saw Prof. Even riding a motorcycle. He was also speeding towards them at ungodly speeds. Cursing aloud until the heavens heard her, Aqua began panicking, making the two boys panic. "He's gonna kill us! He's gonna kill us," the two screamed.

Luckily for them (while unluckily for Prof. Even), a SUV flying across the street behind Aqua's car hit Prof. Even's motorcycle, knocking him off the vehicle and into a nearby tree. "Wow, that was…." Luneth said.

"Random," Ven added.

"I was going to say close but that'll do," Luneth said to him.

As they drove off due to the detour, the three could've sworn they heard Prof. Even yell from the tree, "I'll get that chocolate if it's the last thing I do!"

* * *

_That's it for now. Just read and review, please. Oh and R.I.P poor homeless man..._


	4. The Chocolate Sale, pt II

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my netbook which this was written on __._

_Life in Radiant Garden_

The Chocolate Sale, Pt. II

Eight o'clock that night (after Aqua had dropped Luneth off at home and taking themselves home), Ven and Aqua were eating dinner with their adopted father Eraqus at the dinner table. Stuffing rice and beans down his throat, Ven managed to tell Eraqus about what happened that day. As he spoke, Eraqus sipped his coffee and nodded his head at everything he said. That ended when he heard the jingling of keys from outside.

Waiting at the door, Eraqus had planned to do his usual to his eldest adopted son, Terra. When Terra had entered the room and greeted everyone, he was greeted by a roundhouse kick to the face from Eraqus. Terra landed on his back, his book bag and books sent flying. Laughing, Eraqus said, "You're late!"

Terra immediately got up and yelled, "Oh, c'mon! Is that how you welcome your son home after he just finished a 75 page essay on how to get world peace?"

"Quiet! Just because you're nineteen doesn't mean that you can come home late without calling!" Eraqus yelled just as loud.

"Comin' home at eight o'clock especially after writing a paper that _you_ assigned isn't being late!" Terra yelled even louder.

"If you come home later than dinner starts, that's late!" Eraqus yelled once again as loud as Terra.

With that, the two began fighting each other (or in this case, wrestling each other). Terra performed a drop kick, hitting Eraqus in the stomach and sending him flying into the hall closet. Eraqus came back with a pile drive to Terra's face. After recovering, Terra performed a body slam, smashing Eraqus into the floor. Eraqus pushed him off and threw the young man into the living room couch, accidentally breaking it into two.

As the two kept fighting, Aqua yelled, "Stop acting like barbarians and come eat!" Terra and Eraqus had punched each other in the jaw, knocking each other out.

"Well, I guess that's that," Aqua said pitifully. She then went into the kitchen, grabbed a pitcher and poured ice cold water in it. Throwing the water onto Terra and Eraqus, the two woke up with a start.

"Aqua, what did you do that for?" Terra yelled.

"Are you two calm now?" she asked.

"Yes," the two men said to her.

"Good. I don't want any more fighting between you two. We've already got to replace the TV and computer because of you two. And now the couch!" she yelled.

"Aqua don't worry about it. Once I get the 10,000 munny, we'll replace all of that," Ven said to her.

"Ven, a couch cost at least 40,000 munny," Terra said, sitting at the table and grabbing a plate.

"And where, pray tell, are you going to get this money?" Eraqus asked.

"Oh, I thought I told you," Ven said, sipping some water.

"No, you didn't. Where are you getting the money from?" Eraqus asked again.

Ven looked around and said, "Um, Lea, Isa, Zack, Yuffie, Luneth and I made a bet and whoever sells the most chocolate wins 10,000 munny."

"You made a bet? You know how I don't allow gambling!" Eraqus yelled.

"Yeah, but if Luneth and me win, we get the money," Ven told him.

"But if you all lose, you lose your part of the bet. That's why I don't allow it. It's too much of a risk," Eraqus told him.

"But, I promised Aqua that I was going to give her the money for her tuition if we win," Ven said in protest.

Eraqus sighed and said, "Alright, but _only_ this once, Ventus."

Changing the subject, Terra said, "So, Ven, how much chocolate did you sell?"

"Um about 88 boxes. That's nothing compared to everyone else, I can tell," Ven replied.

"Don't worry, I'll help you out tomorrow," Terra told him in reassurance.

"Okay," Ven said, smiling.

Remembering the horrors of what happened earlier, Aqua said, "Terra, you remember Prof. Even, right?" Terra immediately stopped eating and his face went pale.

"I take that as a yes," Aqua said, looking a bit worried.

"All I did was say 'chocolate' and he attacked me, Squall and Tifa," Terra said, rocking back and forth in his chair.

"Why?" Ven asked, still wondering why he was chased by him.

Eraqus, remembering why no one says chocolate around his colleague, said to him, "It's just based on rumors, but someone denied him chocolate for at least three months for some kind of 'initiation ritual'. When he was given chocolate for the first time after those three months, he went insane, screaming 'Chocolate' the whole time. I believe what happened with Terra and the others is the reason why he was taken to a therapist by Xehanort and off of the high school's payroll."

* * *

The next day, after being dropped off by Terra, Ven met up with Luneth and the rest of his buddies. "So, how much did you guys sell yesterday, Ven?" Yuffie asked.

"About 88 boxes," Ven replied.

"That's it? Yuffie and me sold about 200 boxes," Lea replied.

"That much?" Luneth asked.

"Yeah, I'm the Master Salesman of Chocolate, got it memorized?" Lea said to the two.

"Oh yeah? Me and Isa here managed to sell 500 boxes," Zack said proudly, crushing Lea's hopes and dreams into tiny fragments of dust.

"What? You and crippled boy couldn't have sold that many in one day!" Lea yelled.

"Hey, a wheelchair works wonders when you're selling stuff," Zack replied.

"And perfectly crafted lies," Isa added.

Around twelve that day (during Ventus and Luneth's break/lunch period), Ven and Luneth went to the third floor math department office in order to get more boxes of chocolate. There, they met with the receptionist, one of the Music students named Garnet til Alexandros. "What can I help you all with?" she asked in a very formal tone.

"Um, we're here to get more chocolate boxes for the math department sale," Luneth replied.

"You all too? Is everyone doing chocolate sales in this school?" Garnet asked, looking through some folders.

"'Everyone'?" Ven asked.

"Yes, everyone in every department, except for athletics department, is holding a fundraiser in order to get funding until next year. Everyone's been complaining on how since Coach Dilan of the football team, Coach Jecht of the soccer and swim teams and Coach Auron of the fencing, archery and basketball teams met with Principal Yen Sid, the funding in other departments significantly dropped by 45% while their's have been raise to 65%," Garnet explained. "My friend, Vivi, doesn't like to go door to door selling. But he has to because he's in the science department."

Overhearing the conversation, Prof. Xehanort (the head of the math department and math professor at Radiant Garden University) came out of his office and asked the two boys, "What can we help you with?"

"Um, we're here to get more boxes of chocolate, sir," Luneth said to him.

Remembering about the conversation and what happened the day before, Ven asked, "Prof. Xehanort, you remember a guy named Prof. Even, right?"

Prof. Xehanort's face turned into a look of complete horror as he said, "Yes."

"So, what happened when Terra mentioned chocolate?" Ven asked.

Immediately, his face changed to shock and anger as he yelled, "You didn't sell him chocolate, right?"

"N-no, sir. We ran away and he began chasing us like crazy," Luneth replied.

Prof. Xehanort sighed and said, "Good. We can't have another arson like last time."

"'Last time'?" all three teens said aloud.

"Yes. Your brother was indeed attacked by Prof. Even due to him making the slightest mention of chocolate. The arson, however, started when said professor ran into several of the science classrooms on the fifth floor, knocking down bottles filled with chemicals, breaking computers, and overall scaring students in a search for chocolate. The chemicals mixed, started an explosion and caused a fire that destroyed many of the west wing's classrooms two years ago," Prof. Xehanort explained.

"So, why on earth did he go crazy in the first place?" Luneth asked.

"Well, I should say that it's my fault for giving him chocolate that day. He had made a bet with one of the guards in the castle about who could not eat their favorite foods for three months. He made that bet and on the last day, he saw me with a chocolate bar and I gave it to him, thus creating the psychopath you saw," Prof. Xehanort explained.

* * *

After school let out (and receiving more boxes of chocolate to sell and tips on how to avoid Prof. Even in the future), the two boys waited outside for Terra to show up with the family car. It took the guy thirty minutes after school let out to arrive. When the two boys got into the car, Luneth yelled, "What took you so long? We're extremely behind on chocolate sales!"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Terra said rather calmly, angering Luneth even further.

"Just calm down. I know a perfect place to sell chocolate," he said, stepping on the gas. The place that he was talking about was Radiant Garden University.

According to Terra, thousands of hungry college students from other parts of the World attend there and many love chocolate. "We can sell them in anywhere on campus, just not in the dorms or classrooms. Just to get you guys to sell more, I'll help you out," Terra told them. Parking the car and putting on his brown leather jacket, Terra grabbed all the boxes out of the trunk while Luneth and Ven grabbed the order forms, shutting the car doors in the process.

In front of the dorms, Terra gave the two boys their assignments. "Okay, I'll sell chocolate around the area of the library. Luneth, you can go into Garden Hall over there (which was located right across from the library). Ven, you can go sell in the hub where McDonalds and Starbucks is (located to the left of the library)," he said. Luneth gave him the order forms and the three left.

In Garden Hall, Luneth with his two boxes found a small area to set up shop. Once he did, he announced his presence by yelling, "Chocolate for sell. I have Twix, peanut butter cups, Milky Ways, Mary Jane's, all you can think of for cheap!"

Many of the students due to hunger, bum rushed the table. Within moments, the entire table was empty, leaving Luneth with about 70,000 munny in his lap. "Thank you for your patronage," he said and passed out.

Around the library, Terra with four boxes found a small place to set up a small shop. He had found an old desk nearby, moved it to his desired area and made a makeshift sign of the chocolate prices. Announcing his presence, the flow of customers were steady. That ended when he heard the words, "Chocolates? Is he selling chocolate?"

Terra looked around, hoping that he was just hearing things. 'I'm just imagining it. He's not here today…I think,' he thought.

As time went by, the customers began to buy up chocolate rapidly, sending Terra down to his last box. He then heard the dreaded words, "Chocolate? He really is selling chocolate?"

Terra looked around again and saw the person he dreaded the most: Prof. Even. "Terra, you're selling chocolate?" he asked.

"Um, y-yes sir. Um, I only have chocolate bars with nuts in 'em," Terra replied, inching towards the last box.

"Chocolate? Chocolate! Chocolate!" Prof. Even screamed, scaring away customers and students.

Terra managed to take the order forms off the table when Prof. Even flipped the desk, sending it flying into a nearby library window. "Chocolate!" Prof. Even screamed.

Terra got up, grabbed his last box and inched away from Prof. Even as he kept screaming "Chocolate". Much to the young man's darkest nightmares, his high school horror story repeated itself as Prof. Even chased after him all across campus for the chocolate...

Ven, however, had a hard time selling chocolate. He did everything that Terra and Luneth did, but something was lacking. He lacked a table to sit at. "Aw, I'll never sell chocolate this way," he said, saddened.

"You're selling chocolate," he heard someone ask. Ven turned around quickly, expecting Prof. Even. Instead it was a man with short, brown hair and blue eyes. The clothing that he wore were all in the color schemes of black and small hints of white. A chain with a pendant of a lion was around his neck. A large scar came across his face and Ven recognized him.

The man was one of Terra's friends named Squall Leonhart. "Oh, you're Squall, right?" Ven asked.

"Yeah and you're Ventus, Terra's little brother," Squall asked, not really sounding interested.

"Yeah, that's me!" Ven said.

"So, how much chocolate do you have?" Squall asked him.

"Only one box, but I can't seem to sell them to anyone," Ven replied. Sighing, Squall asked for every type of chocolate that didn't consist of nuts.

Ven gave him the order form and asked, "Why are you buying so much chocolate?"

"I really don't feel like talking about it," Squall replied, signing his name onto the sheet.

"You got a girlfriend or something?" Ven asked.

"Yes," Squall said, not wanting to take the conversation any further.

"Oh, you got chocolate for me," a woman said.

"That's her," Sqaull said, nodding his head in the woman's direction. Ven looked at the lady and saw that she was Rinoa Heartily, one of the part time staff at the school.

"Oh, Ven, how's Terra and Aqua?" she asked.

"They're good. Are you gonna buy chocolate too?" Ven said.

"I'll take thirty," Rinoa said, pulling a wallet out of her purse.

"I just bought you ten boxes," Squall mumbled.

"So? I'm preparing for midterms and I'll need all the chocolate I can get," Rinoa said to him. Looking down at the box, she changed her mind and bought the entire box. Going through the legal processes again, Ventus was left with no boxes and was extremely happy. Squall, on the other hand, was extremely pissed that he just wasted "hard earned" money.

As Luneth and Ven left their respective places and waited by the car, the two could've sworn someone was screaming "Chocolate".

"Oh no, not him," was all Luneth could say. The two looked in the direction of the scream and saw Terra running for dear life while holding a box from Prof. Even.

"Start the car!" Terra screamed to the tops of his lungs, throwing his car keys to Luneth.

"But I can't drive, Terra," Luneth said.

"I don't care! Just start the car!" Terra screamed as Prof. Even closed in on him. Before the professor could get to him, a legion of patrol officers tackled him to the ground. When he tried getting up, one of the officers tazed him, putting Prof. Even in a mini coma.

"You can thank us for that," Squall said. The three boys looked at Squall and saw that Rinoa had her cell phone out.

"So, is he the guy who attacked you over chocolate?" she asked him.

"No it was more like Terra talking a little bit about chocolate cake," Squall replied, staring at the now comatose Prof. Even. Rinoa saw the last box of chocolate Terra had and bought it off of him, giving him at least 20,000 munny for it.

Leaving the campus to drop Luneth off and heading home, Terra did not speak about him being chased by Prof. Even.

"Seriously, what did you say to make Prof. Even chase you over chocolate?" Luneth asked.

"I just said how much I like chocolate cake and he attacked me because I didn't like the whole 'Spectrum of Chocolate'," Terra replied, whimpering a bit.

"'Spectrum of Chocolate? What's that?" Ven asked.

"I have no idea," Terra replied, leaving the two boys to wonder what the heck was wrong with Prof. Even.


	5. The Chocolate Sale, pt III

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except for this Turkey Burger I got. Yum __._

_Life in Radiant Garden_

The Chocolate Sale, pt. III

The next Monday, Ventus and Luneth had met up with Yuffie, Lea, Isa and Zack in the school's library. Lea's neck brace was taken off during that weekend as well as some of his stitches. Isa was still in his wheelchair but was taking rehab to restore strength in his legs. Talking quietly, the six told each other how many boxes of chocolate they sold.

"Well, Isa and me managed to sell about 1,000 boxes over the weekend," Zack said.

"1,000? That's it. Ven and I sold about 1,600 boxes," Luneth told the group.

"That's it? Yuffie and me sold 2,000 of those boxes," Lea said.

"2,000? How the heck…" Ven asked.

"I told you, I'm the Master Salesman of Chocolate," Lea said.

"More like the Master Liar," Isa said, somewhat jealous.

The conversation stopped when they heard a scream in the hall. Ven got up and looked outside. Another ninth grader was getting picked on by one of the upper-class jocks.

Garnet had ran over to the group of jocks and was yelling, "Leave him alone, you jerks!"

The group left and when they did, Garnet turned to the kid, saying "Are you okay, Vivi?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. They took all my chocolate, though," the kid, Vivi said.

The two began walking over towards the library and Ven rushed back to his seat. "What happened?" Luneth asked him.

"Well, Garnet's friend, Vivi, got all his chocolate stolen by jocks," Ven replied. Garnet and Vivi had entered the library. When Garnet saw Luneth and the others, she and Vivi sat at the table.

"Hey Garnet," Luneth said.

"Hello Luneth, Ven and…?" Garnet said. Lea and the others introduced themselves to Garnet and Vivi.

"So, lil' guy, where're you from?" Lea asked.

"I'm from Twilight Town, but my parents sent me here saying that the education here's better. But ever since I got here, I've had my lunch taken. I've been thrown into a locker, got wedgies from the jocks and my chocolates for the sale were stolen," Vivi said, nearly crying.

"Well, don't you worry, Vivi. If you stick with us, we'll protect you," Zack said in reassurance.

"Okay. You'll beat up the jocks for me?" Vivi asked him.

"Well, I know a few people in the athletics department, so yeah," Zack replied.

* * *

After school, the three groups had gathered more boxes for the sale. Vivi joined Isa and Zack for selling his chocolate while Garnet joined Yuffie and Lea. Luneth and Ven were once again outside by themselves, waiting for Terra to pick them up. With their 20 boxes of chocolates, the two boys kept waiting until it was around five o'clock. Once Terra had arrived, the two boys saw that Aqua was sitting in the front seat.

"Aqua, what are you doing here?" Ven asked her.

"Well, I took the day off. I'll help you all out in selling the chocolate," she replied while Terra placed the chocolates in the car trunk.

As the two got into the car, Luneth said to her, "You're not just helping us because you want to beat your rival, right?"

"No," Aqua lied.

"Aqua, everyone knows that you just want to help 'cause Angeal's helping Zack," Terra said, coming back into the car.

"Oh well, the more, the merrier," Ven said as the car took off.

Due to Terra's fear of Prof. Even, the group avoided going to the University. So, they headed to the nearest supermarket. Outside, the group set up shop and began selling to the small stream of customers that were entering and exiting the store. After about an hour, the group managed to sell about 800 of the small boxes of chocolate, leaving the group twelve boxes left.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, a certain psychopath was nearing the store. Thinking, "I shall get chocolate today", he inched closer and closer to Ven and the others. Once he was close enough, he hid behind the last twelve boxes. He waited for the right moment to strike.

Once that moment came, he thought, "Chocolate!"

* * *

Terra could sense that something was wrong as the hairs on the back of his head stood up and the air suddenly went cold. "He's not here, is he?" Terra thought.

"Terra, what are you talking about?" Aqua asked.

"He can't be here!" Terra yelled, getting up and looking around.

"Terra, you're just hallucinating," Ven told him.

"You didn't notice that the air suddenly went cold?" Terra yelled.

"Now I think about it, it did get colder," Luneth said.

The group looked around and Terra could've sworn he heard, "Chocolate" coming from behind the boxes.

He turned towards the stack of boxes and said, "Not again."

Within seconds, the insane psychopath known as Prof. Even screamed "Chocolate" sending the boxes flying into the air and scaring nearby customers. Aqua hid behind Terra while Luneth and Ven hugged Aqua. "Just spare us! Don't kill us! Don't do it!" they screamed.

"Wah-ha-ha-ha! Finally, I've been trying to catch you all week! Now that I got you right where I want you…I'd like to buy all your chocolate," Prof. Even said, calmly speaking at the end. Terra and Aqua passed out. Luneth and Ven stared at him, dropping whatever chocolates they had in their hands. Prof. Even grabbed all the boxes, placed it in his car which was parked about ten feet away and left, giving the group 100,000 munny.

"Thank you for your patronage," Luneth said, in shock.

* * *

The next day, Luneth and Ven met up with their friends in the lunchroom. "So, how did selling go yesterday?" Yuffie asked. The two said nothing.

"Hey, it could've have been that bad," Zack said. The two still didn't say anything.

"Seriously, Ven, what happened?" Lea asked.

"We sold all twenty big boxes yesterday," Ven said, still in shock at what happened.

"So, that means…Wait, you all sold 5,000 boxes!" Isa yelled.

"Yep, the munny's ours, but that guy was creepy…" Luneth said, whispering.

"What guy?" Yuffie asked them. The two explained who Prof. Even was, scaring and scarring for life their friends.


	6. All Bets are Off, pt I

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

_Life in Radiant Garden_

All Bets are Off

For most students at Radiant Garden High School, physical education is mandatory before graduating. Many take P.E.; others take classes such as ROTC or Swimming. Ven, Zack and Lea took up swimming while Luneth, Yuffie and Isa took P.E. (Isa finally managed to get out of the wheelchair). That midmorning of October 23, the small group of three had entered Swim class, prepared for their usual swimming practices. The others that were there were the three of school's misfits, the Jenova brothers, Kadaj, Yazoo (age 15) and Loz (their _special _16 year old brother).

While swimming, Yazoo told his twin brother, Kadaj, "Swimming class is certainly an invigorating way to start the day. Don't you agree, Kadaj?" Kadaj, however, fell asleep and began drowning in the pool.

Once underwater, the teen woke up, swam up and screamed, "Aah! The dam burst! Find a lifeboat! Women and me first! This mornin' stuff's killing me."

His older, yet retar…er, _special _brother, Loz was sitting on the side eating….gravy in a few baking pans he'd brought to school. When he was done with the first pan, he threw it at Kadaj, hitting him on the head and splashing into the water. "Hey, watch it Ahab!" Kadaj screamed.

Yazoo stared at Loz, asking, "Loz is that…gravy you're consuming?" The whistle of the swimming teacher blew, effectively ending the conversation.

The class of 35's assignment that day was to practice diving in the pool. Ven was the first to dive, doing a small splash in the Olympic sized pool. Lea was next and he was followed by Zack, Vivi, Kadaj, Yazoo and the other students. Loz was the last to go in. When he did, he yelled, "My turn!"

He landed on the diving board stomach down and was sent crashing into the ceiling. He pried himself off and landed in the pool with a loud "sploosh", bringing down some of the ceiling. He swam up and noticed that he dropped his box of instant gravy mix in the pool.

"Good thing it didn't open up, huh guys?" Loz asked, shaking the box. When he shook the box, the box burst open, sending the gravy mix into the pool and turning the entire pool into a vat of gravy.

"Loz! You've contaminated the pool with the residue of meat drippings!" Yazoo yelled, panicking. Everyone looked disgusted as gravy spread in the pool. Lea was extremely pissed as gravy had entered his ears.

"There's plenty for everyone. Ha, ha, who needs a ladle?" Loz asked, holding up ladles.

* * *

That lunch period, Kadaj was given a detention by Principal Yen Sid for not controlling his brother's eating habits. Needless to say, he was pissed. The group that included Lea, Yuffie, Isa, Zack, Luneth, Ven, newly appointed members Vivi and Garnet stood in line for lunch. Lea began to complain about how he still had gravy in his ear and Zack complained how gravy was stuck in his hair. When Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo entered the lunch line, Lea scowled.

"Great! I got a detention because of your stupid eating habits!" Kadaj yelled.

"Ooh, is it that time already?" Loz asked, looking at a sign that said that day's lunch featured "Chicken and Gravy".

"Ooh, gravy! Yum!" Loz yelled, causing Kadaj to get even angrier.

After choosing their table, Ven's group kept talking about what happened in the pool earlier that morning. Kadaj and his brothers ended up sitting at a table next to them. Ven's group saw that the only thing Loz chose for his lunch was an entire vat of gravy.

"Um, Loz, aren't you worried that this daily diet of gravy will be detrimental to your health?" Yazoo asked. Loz didn't say anything; he just smiled.

"I swear he's obsessed with the stuff. It's stashed here," Kadaj said lifting Loz's shirt to find pouches of gravy taped to his chest.

"You'll find it here," Kadaj said, opening up Loz's book bag to find bottles of gravy it in.

"I bet you can't go one day without that stupid gravy, Loz," Kadaj said in a huff.

Opening up a canister of gravy, Loz poured gravy into a cup and said, "Says you."

He began drinking it when Kadaj screamed in his ear, yelling, "So, prove it!"

"Gah, your voice is like toothpicks in my drumsticks, Kadaj!" Loz yelled, dropping the cup of gravy and closing his ears.

"I agree, Loz. I always did wish for Kadaj to use a tone of voice that didn't rattle the timbers of every house in a five mile radius!" Yazoo said, getting angry at Kadaj.

"Hey, what about you, Mr. Encyclopedia? I bet I can stop yelling way longer than you can stop using your fancy, big words Yazoo!" Kadaj yelled.

Ven, interested, said to the brothers, "Yazoo would go crazy if he used words with only one syllable."

"Ha! Even the blonde's got you pegged!" Kadaj yelled.

"Aw, the three stooges are having a little tiff. Isn't it precious?" Isa said, mocking the brothers.

"You're always so mean, Isa," Zack said.

"So, one of them is actually an idiot," Isa said, not feeling any guilt.

"Since you're so mean, I bet 800 munny that I can go without meat longer than you can go without being mean," Zack said.

Isa looked around and said to the groups, "What? I can give up being mean just like that."

Kadaj looked over at Ven and said, "Think you can go a whole day without eating peanut butter?"

Ven looked down at his peanut butter sandwich and said nervously, sweating, "Y-yeah. Y-yeah, I can!" He then stuffed the whole sandwich in his mouth.

Looking at Yuffie who was texting, he asked, "Think you can go a whole day without texting all day?"

She looked down at her cell phone and said, "Yeah, but let me finish this last text."

Kadaj then looked at Lea and said, "You think you can go a whole day without saying, 'Got it memorized'?"

"Yeah, it'll be easy," Lea said, looking confident.

"Hey, Garnet, Luneth and Vivi, you wanna join?" Zack asked.

"Nope. Nuh uh. Not right now," was their replies.

"Alright, then may the best man or woman win!" Zack said and the bet was on.

* * *

The next day, Zack began clearing out his locker that was full of meat. He threw away chicken wings, ribs, burgers, steaks, etc. The students around his locker began staring at him as he threw the meat away in a nearby trashcan. Some even said aloud, "Is he crazy? That could've been my lunch!"

Yuffie, at her locker, stared at her cell phone. As if the two would never see each other again, she said, "I'll miss you and your lovely touch screen buttons. I'll miss your Pucca wallpaper. I want to make a text, but alas, I cannot." She slowly put away her cell phone in a box and placed it in the back of her locker. She closed the locker and began walking away. As she walked, tears weld up in her eyes. Within seconds, she began crying and ran over to the nearest girl's restroom.

At Ven's locker, students began to look worried as he began throwing away anything in his locker that had peanut butter in it. He threw away many packets of Reese's peanut butter cups. He threw away his favorite peanut butter crackers. He even threw away the sandwich that Aqua made for him that day. When he was done, the only thing he could yell was, "Darn you, Jenova brothers! You shall perish in the deepest pits of the fiery flames!"

* * *

While all this was happening, Kadaj was walking to class, not paying attention to a certain blonde haired, evil tenth grader that was closing in on him. The two crashed into each other and when Kadaj opened his eyes, he saw Larxene, head cheerleader of the school's squad and (as some students would put it) the devil incarnate. The contents of her purse scattered across the hall, making her very angry. With a growl and the sound of a thunderclap in the distance, she yelled at Kadaj, "Watch where you're going, fish-face!"

Kadaj was about to reciprocate in kind. He took a deep breath and was about to yell when he remembered the bet. He closed his mouth just as Zack and Isa looked in his direction. In a quieter tone, he said, "Ahem, nice going, evil hag." He walked off, leaving Larxene confused at what just happened.

On the other side of the school, one of the newer students had entered the building. Due to his silver hair, brown skin and preppy clothes in the color schemes of blue and white, most knew that he was a foreigner. He looked around, not finding any sign of the jocks (due to the jocks hounding him about joining the archery or fencing teams) and walked to his locker. Luneth and Lea, seeing him at his locker, said, "Oh, hey Firion!" Firion El, the new kid, jumped up in surprise and accidentally locked himself into his locker.

"Uh, can someone help me?" he yelled.

"Alright, we'll get you out!" Lea said and opened the locker.

"Seriously, why did you jump?" Luneth asked him.

"I thought you were the jocks, hounding me to join one of their teams," he replied, gathering his things for class.

The three jumped when they heard someone scream, "Watch where you're goin', fish face!"

"Sounds like Larxene's at it again," Luneth sighed.

"Larxene?" Firion asked them.

"She's the head cheerleader, got it…" Lea was about to say when he slapped his mouth shut.

"Uh, okay, what was that all about?" Firion asked.

Lea was about to reply when he heard, "Lea!" Lea was tackled to the ground by Loz and saw that he was panicking.

"Lea, how much longer…must me and gravy…can't be as one?" he said while Lea inched away from him. Lea, after getting up, moved Luneth in front of him.

Loz, looking around with bloodshot eyes screamed, "Oh, the suffering!" Then, using Firion's locker door began hitting himself in the head while the trio looked on worried.

At ten o'clock that morning, Ven, Yazoo, Kadaj, Firion, Lea and Yuffie had History class. Sitting down in their usual spots with the rest of the 30 students in that class, the ones in the bet glared at each other, daring one to fall into their bad habit. Since Firion wasn't in the bet, he was confused at his new friends Lea, Yuffie and Ven glowering at several people in the class. "Uh, what's going on?" he asked Ven, who was sitting in front of him.

"We made a bet to see who can last long without doing any annoying habits, like Kadaj yelling and me eating peanut butter," Ven replied, glaring at Kadaj.

While the group glared at one another, their teacher, Prof. Zexion had entered the classroom. Placing a large amount of books on his desk, he asked if the class had their history assignments ready. Most of the class, not including Kadaj (since he "doesn't do homework"), turned in their papers and Prof. Zexion began teaching. That day's topic: World War III.

While he was teaching, something weird was happening in Ven's mind. Since he was hungry and denied his peanut butter, he started to go a little crazy. His little "dark side", he conveniently named Vanitas due to an incident that happened over peanut butter when he was younger, began to show up in his thoughts.

'When school's over, I'll pummel that Kadaj into oblivion!' he thought, smirking evilly. 'He'll think twice next time he denies me peanut butter!'

Behind him, Firion could've sworn he felt an evil presence in the room. 'Okay, Larxene's not here nor are the jocks. So, where is it…?' he thought. He looked at Ven and saw slight mist of black steam coming from Ven.

He scoot his chair back in fear and Zexion asked the class, "Okay, can anyone tell me what happened during the fall of Shinra in Midgar?"

Ven got up and said with a loud voice, "DEATH!"

Zexion eyed him in fear, saying, "Uh, n-not quite, Ven. Anyone else?"

"The guy in charge stepped down and signed a treaty with Radiant Garden's," Lea said, shocking most students.

"Lea, you actually studied," a student asked him.

"Yeah, I study, unlike _someone _I know," he said, pointing at Kadaj.

* * *

The day got worse as when lunchtime hit. In the lunchroom, Loz looked around for gravy in vain. So, he began dragging himself on the floor, hoping that someone would give him a bit of gravy. When Yazoo found him, he said, speaking in small syllables, "Loz, what…are…you…do…ing?"

"I want gravy," Loz whined.

"You…oh, can't have…it now," Yazoo said, shocked that he was able to speak in simpler words.

Out in the hallway, Yuffie stared at her locker as if it was a lover that wouldn't come back to her. Garnet found her and said, "Yuffie, why are you staring at your locker?"

"I want to see my cell phone, even if it's just a peek," she whispered.

"Um, why don't you come with me into the lunchroom? A nice, hot meal and a bit of human interaction should distract you from that," Garnet said, grabbing her arm and leading her into the lunchroom.

Vivi was walking in the halls at the time, trying to get to lunch. He suddenly stopped when he saw Ven rummaging through the garbage near Vivi's locker. "Where is it?" he heard Ven yell demonically.

"Uh, Ven are you okay?" Vivi asked nervously.

With an insane laugh, Ven said, "Of course, I'm okay! Just peachy!"

Vivi hesitantly walked closer to Ven. Being at a "safe" distance from him, Vivi asked, "What are you looking for?"

That made Ven snap. "Peanut butter," he said, sounding exactly his "dark counterpart" Vanitas. He then looked over at Vivi with crazy, yellow eyes.

"Do you have it?" he asked, grabbing his shirt.

"N-no, I don't have any peanut butter!" Vivi screamed.

"Useless," Ven/Vanitas said, throwing the poor kid into a nearby trash can face first. Ven/Vanitas then bolted off to the nearest stairs to find his peanut butter while Vivi climbed out of the garbage can, taking a banana peel off of his head.

'What's with Ven? He didn't act like this before, unless…Oh, no. I gotta tell Lea and the others to stop the bet!' Vivi thought and ran off to the lunchroom.


	7. All Bets are Off, pt II

_Disclamier: Still own nothing…well except his nail clipper *loses nail clipper*…Aw __._

_Life in Radiant Garden_

All Bets are Off, pt. II

Vivi ran through the halls, trying to get to the lunchroom. When he made a sharp right turn, he slipped onto the floor, landing on his face hard. "Are you okay, Vivi?" he heard someone asked. He got up and saw that Luneth was standing next to him.

"What's going on? Why are you running in the halls?" Luneth asked him.

"It's Ventus! Something's wrong with Ven!" Vivi yelled.

"He was looking through garbage cans, screaming about peanut butter!"

"Hmm, that's odd. That's not like him, unless…" Luneth said as his face went pale. He began reminiscing about what happened before when Ven was denied that which tames him….

Once Luneth came out of his horrific flashback, he turned to Vivi and yelled, "We have to find Lea and the others! Actually, we should find some peanut butter before he destroys the school!" Luneth took off, leaving Vivi on the floor.

"'Before he destroys the school'? But he's only one person. He can't destroy the school," Vivi said aloud.

* * *

Back in the lunchroom, Isa was minding his own business. Sitting next to Garnet and Yuffie, he was calmly eating his BLT sandwich when a spit covered paper ball hit the back of his neck. 'Don't say anything. Don't say anything,' he thought, calming his nerves.

The paper balls kept flying to the back of his neck three more times when he yelled; turning to Kadaj, "Knock it off ya…!"

He stopped, knowing that he was going to say something mean and added, "Uh, you know."

Isa continued eating when Kadaj began stifling his laughter, holding the straw that shot out the spit covered paper balls. Yazoo, sitting next to him, said, "Don't…uh…push…Ka…daj. You…are…not…fair!"

Kadaj then heard Yuffie complaining about not texting. "I need it!" she said, slumping in her chair.

Unbeknownst to her, Kadaj had broken into her locker earlier and stole her cell phone. He was about to torture her with it when Vivi came running into the lunchroom and over to Isa and the others. "You guys, stop the bet!" he screamed.

"Why? None of us have done any of our bad habits," Isa asked.

"Vivi, what's wrong?" Lea asked, finally coming to the table with a tray filled with food.

"It's Ven! He's gone crazy! He began going through the garbage, looking for peanut butter!" Vivi screamed.

"'Going through garbage'? That doesn't seem like him," Garnet said.

"Oh, you don't know what Ven will do for peanut butter…The last time he was denied peanut butter, he nearly started World War V," Lea said, remembering what happened…the last time.

* * *

_Flashback_

_When the group was in their seventh grade year at Radiant Garden Middle School, a bully-that-should-never-be-called-by-name took poor Ven's jar of peanut butter that Terra gave him that day. Since the group was at the park, the teachers outside were scarce. So, Ven snapped and took matters in his own hands. Within seconds, Ven managed to destroy the park's playground, baseball diamond, soccer field and basketball court all in the pursuit of getting his peanut butter back. Once the teachers had arrived, however, they could've sworn that World War V occurred as the clouds were dark around the park and the skies were colored red._

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"Okay, I'm willing to end the bet if you all want to save the school," Lea said to the group. Kadaj didn't hear that because he was busy torturing Loz, giving him a plate of mashed potatoes with no gravy.

"Mashed potatoes…No gravy?" Loz yelled, ripped the plate from Kadaj's hands and threw it to Isa. It hit Isa in the head, knocking him off of his chair.

Isa got up, extremely pissed, and threw his tray at Kadaj like a Frisbee. It hit Kadaj in the face and the force of the blow knocked him to the ground. Isa ran up to him, yelling, "Nice catch, ya…" He then proceeded to use every swear known to man, some in different languages.

After Isa was finished, he cracked his neck and back, saying, "Man that felt good." He walked off as Kadaj got up, ready for part two in his plan.

Plan two was torturing Yuffie. She was standing in the lunch line, trying to get dessert. "C'mon Yuffie. Make up your mind. You can get some pie without texting about it," she said to herself.

Kadaj stood next to her and began texting on _her _cell phone. Kadaj laughed quietly to himself, reading all her texts. "Ooh, you're a riot, pal of mine," Kadaj said, reading a text from Zidane Tribal.

Angered that her privacy was invaded, she kicked Kadaj so hard that he was sent crashing into the ceiling. Yuffie snatched her cell phone as the whole lunchroom watched as Kadaj landed on the ground with a loud thud. She then stood over Kadaj, yelling, "No one reads my personal texts, except me!"

Walking over to the lunchroom door, she yelled, "Forget the stupid bet, home wrecker!"

When she opened the door and left, Zack entered the lunchroom, looking like he didn't eat in months. In a weak voice, he said to Yuffie, "Thank you, Yuffie. I couldn't find the strength to open the door." Zack then wobbled over to the vegetarian section.

Kadaj's third plan, "Get rid of Yazoo", went into effect after Yuffie kicked the crap out of him. Sitting next to him, he opened his English book and began reading words aloud.

"'Temper-a-ment-al'? What kind of word is that? 'Con-chi-en-chous'? I don't know about you, but that word's just plain stupid," Kadaj said, scratching out the words "Temperamental" and "Conscious" out of the glossary.

"Stop! I will not tolerate your singlehanded annihilation of the English language for your monetary gain, Kadaj," Yazoo screamed, taking the book from Kadaj. Within seconds, he realized what he just did. Kadaj then looked over at Lea and saw that he was panicking.

Vivi led Lea out of the lunchroom, Lea saying to Kadaj, "Man I quit! We gotta stop Ven before he destroys the school!"

"'Before he destroys the school'? Man, blondie can't really destroy an either school," Kadaj said quietly. The next plan was to make Zack eat meat. He saw Zack standing at the Vegetarian line, trying to pick up a piece of celery.

Kadaj, eating a hotdog, said to him," Mmm, meaty. Yep, real meaty meat."

Zack, going temporarily insane, screamed, "The games have ended! I can no longer resist the sweet, beautiful temptation known as meat!" Jumping over the counter, Zack began eating all the meat in a crazed frenzy, knocking over a vat of "gravy".

Loz, on the other side of the lunchroom, saw this and yelled, "Gravy? It is you! Come to Loz! Belly misses you!"

Yazoo ran after him, screaming, "Loz, stop! You and Kadaj are the only ones left in the bet!"

Loz jumped in the vat of "gravy" and Kadaj screamed, "I win!"

Jumping up and down, he screamed, "Am I loud enough for you now, Yazoo? No? How about now? No? How 'bout now?"

Loz, finding out that the "gravy" was butterscotch pudding, jumped out of the vat, knocking Kadaj into a nearby register. "Uh oh, butterscotch," he said, knowing that he was allergic to butterscotch in every form.

"Oh, would you look at that. It's 'Fun with Butterscotch Pudding Tuesday'. It's not gravy after all," Yazoo explained, looking at a nearby poster.

"Not gravy?" Kadaj screamed, making Loz the winner. Or so they thought.

* * *

During that whole fiasco, in the 1st floor locker rooms, a certain blonde haired kid was rummaging through lockers, looking for his beloved. One of the soccer players, Zidane Tribal, came in the room and noticed that certain person was rummaging through his things. "Hey! What're you doin' in my locker!" Zidane yelled, running up to them.

"Peanut butter…" was the only thing the person could say. When the certain blonde closed Zidane's locker, Zidane knew something was very, very wrong with him.

"Do you have…peanut butter?" the blonde asked, right eye twitching.

"Uh, n-no," Zidane said, backing away slowly. The blonde had gotten very angry, picking up Zidane by the collar with one arm.

"You're lying! I know you have some!" the blonde screamed like a psycho.

Before Zidane could say anything, Luneth had entered and yelled, "Ven what are you doing?" Ven/Vanitas dropped Zidane, hissed at Luneth and ran off.

* * *

After giving up on the bet, Lea and Vivi began running through the halls, trying to find Luneth and Ven. Noticing that they wouldn't be able to find peanut butter in school, Lea though about calling Terra and Aqua. "Who are they?" Vivi asked.

"They're his siblings, got it memorized?" Lea said, taking out his cell phone.

Calling up Terra, he was greeted with, "Who's this? Oh, hi Lea."

"Terra, you gotta help us!" Lea yelled over the phone.

"Well, I'm driving now. What do you need?" Terra asked him.

"Ven's gone crazy!" Vivi yelled.

"Who was that?" Terra asked.

"Oh, that was Vivi, a new kid. He told me that Ven was looking for peanut butter and went crazy," Lea explained.

A silence came over the phone. "Um, okay, why was he looking for peanut butter? Aqua made him a peanut butter sandwich for today," Terra said to him, scared at what was to come.

"Um, well you see…" Lea was about to say.

"What did you do?" Terra asked, annoyed.

"Um, well, we made a bet saying that whoever could not eat their favorite foods or do their annoying habits, they win 800 munny," Lea explained.

"You did what?" Terra yelled over the phone.

"I'm sorry, but Ven wanted to do it!" Lea whimpered.

"If Ven doesn't get peanut butter soon, it'll be the end of all of us! No-oo-oo-oo-oo!" Terra screamed loudly over the phone, causing Lea to nearly become deaf.

After regaining his hearing, Lea was told by Terra to find Ven and calm him down by any means necessary. "I'll go get the peanut butter," Terra said.

The conversation ended when a crash was heard in the hallway. Vivi, trembling, asked Lea, "What was that?" The two then saw Zidane and Luneth running towards them.

"Run for it!" Luneth screamed to the tops of his lungs.

Lea grabbed the two by their arms and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Ven, h-he just kicked the crap out of the new kid, Firion!" Luneth screamed.

"Zidane, are you okay?" Vivi asked him.

"Yeah. But that crazy kid's comin' this way!" Zidane said. Lea let the two go and saw a silhouette that looked like Ven's.

"Peanut butter," he said.

Lea, trying to find a way to calm his friend down, said to him, "Um, Ven, Terra's bringing peanut butter for you."

Zidane, now interested, said, "Terra? Ven knows Terra? The Legendary Quarterback from last year?"

"Ven's his little brother," Luneth replied, picking up a lid off of a nearby garbage can. When Luneth did that, Vivi went back into the lunchroom to find reinforcements.

Once Vivi came back, Garnet, Isa, Yuffie and Zack (who instantly recovered after eating meat) came with him and the four looked shocked. "It's worse than I thought," Isa said.

"I hope that someone brings in peanut…" Zack was about to say when Yuffie slapped her hand over his mouth.

"Shh! Don't say the name of his beloved!" she said.

Lea, still trying to calm down Ven, told him, "Don't worry, we'll get you your peanut butter?"

"Peanut butter…You have some?" Ven/Vanitas asked him.

"No, not on me," Lea said instantly regretting it.

Screaming like a mad man, Ven/Vanitas lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. "Give me my peanut butter!" Ven/Vanitas screamed, running off to another part of the school.

Lea got up and said painfully, "We gotta find Ven and keep him tied up until Terra comes by and gives him the peanut butter."

"How? He could be anywhere," Vivi asked.

"Okay, me and Garnet will take the 2nd floor," Zack said.

"And Garnet, how do you know him?" Zidane asked, feeling a bit insecure.

"Oh, Zidane, these are my new friends, Zack, Isa, Lea, Yuffie, Luneth and the crazy one is Ven," Garnet said, quickly introducing the group.

"Okay, Zack and Garnet will take the second floor. Vivi and Zidane will take this floor. Isa and Luneth will take the fourth floor. Yuffie, you can take the sixth floor and I'll take the fifth floor," Lea said. Once everyone had their assignments and headed straight for their respective floors.


	8. Little Blue Ven, pt I

_Disclaimer: Don't own nothing…_

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Little Blue Ven, pt. I

On the second floor (the Music floor), Zack and Garnet looked in the music classrooms, hoping to find Ven. Well, Zack hoped to find him. Garnet wanted to run away. In the west wing of the second floor, the two heard the sound of lockers opening and closing. Turning slowly into that part of the hall, the two thought they were going to see Ven.

Luckily for them (and unluckily for the others), it was only one of the other students. She looked at the two hiding in a corner and said, "What are you guys doing?"

Garnet, recognizing the girl, said, "Oh, hello Yuna."

Yuna, one of the ninth grade Choir students, walked over to the two and asked, "What are you two doing?"

"Oh, we're looking for a friend. He's got blonde hair, blue eyes. Well, right now, he doesn't have blue eyes. It's more of a yellow thing goin' on there," Zack replied.

"Well, I just got out of class. I haven't seen anyone like that. Why are you looking for him anyway?" Yuna asked them.

"Zack and the others made a bet with each other to see how long they can last without doing their favorite things or foods," Garnet explained to her.

"Why?" Yuna asked.

"We bet munny on it," Zack replied.

"Okay, I haven't seen your friend anywhere, but I'll tell you once I see him," Yuna said and walked away.

"Yeah, if she lives to tell the tale," Zack said, making Garnet worry.

* * *

On the fourth floor (the English and Communications floor), Isa and Luneth walked around the halls, looking for the now crazed Ven. "Ven, where are you?" Luneth yelled.

"We have peanut butter. Your favorite," Isa lied. The two heard a loud crash coming from the east wing and the two stopped in their tracks.

Luneth, still holding the garbage can lid, said, "Who's there?"

"Ow," was all the person could say. When Isa and Luneth were close enough, they saw and injured Firion (who had a black eye and bruises on his face).

"Firion!" Luneth yelled and ran over to him.

Isa followed behind and Firion said, "Ow, ow. Oh my god, that hurts."

"Firion, did you see where Ven went?" Isa asked him.

"The crazy blonde kid? Well, after he kicked the crap out of me because I didn't have any peanut butter, he ran off downstairs, screaming like a psycho!" Firion said, pretty angry about getting beat up.

"Well, he didn't say anything else?" Isa asked. Firion was about to answer when a loud boom came from the fifth floor.

* * *

On the third floor (the Math floor), Vivi and Zidane kept running in the halls, trying to find Ven. They had searched through most of the classrooms and still didn't find him. "We've searched everywhere and we still can't find Ven," Vivi said, giving up and sitting on the floor.

"Well, we're searchin' for a guy who likes peanut butter, right?" Zidane asked.

"Yeah, so?" Vivi asked.

"So, we need to find someone who likes peanut butter. If we open it up, we can set a trap for him and capture him," Zidane said, showing his brains. With that, the two went to the only place they hoped to find peanut butter: Prof. Xehanort's office.

* * *

On the fifth floor (the Science Floor), Lea had a hard time trying to find Ven. "Ven, buddy, just come out. Terra just told me that he's gonna go and get you some peanut butter," Lea said, looking around the hall. He immediately stopped when he heard a rattling noise coming from one of the lockers. Lea went to the locker and slowly opened it. When he did, he saw one of the younger freshmen shaking.

When he noticed his moment of freedom, the kid jumped out, thanked Lea and ran off. "That was uneventful,"

Lea mumbled and within seconds, he heard someone yell, "My precious!" Lea looked around and noticed that the noise was coming from the classroom two doors down. He walked over to the classroom door and was about to open it when an explosion happened. Lea was sent flying into the wall and the explosion was accompanied by a large boom.

When Lea came to, he saw kids running out of the classroom. One of them screamed, "I'm scarred for life!"

Another screamed, "Ven's crazy man! Crazy!" The fire bells went off as smoke rose up to the ceiling, causing other classes to dismiss.

Lea, going against his natural instinct to run, went inside the smoke filled classroom to find Ven holding two broken bottles of chemicals amongst the fire charred desks. From what Lea could tell, Ven had mixed two volatile chemicals in the hopes of making peanut butter. There was this twisted smile on Ven's face, telling Lea that Ven had lost it. "Um, Ven, Terra's gonna bring you your peanut butter. So, drop the bottles and come with me," Lea said, petrified.

"Peanut butter…?" Ven/Vanitas said, lowering the bottles.

"Yeah, Terra's gonna give you peanut butter if you just calm down," Lea said as calmly as he could.

Ven/Vanitas dropped the broken bottles and said, "I want it now!"

"You can't have it now 'cause Terra's not here yet," Lea said to him.

Ven/Vanitas walked up to Lea, grabbed his shirt and yelled, "You torment me!"

He then threw Lea through the classroom door and ran off, screaming, "Give me my peanut butter!"

* * *

_Meanwhile at the store which is too big for normal (Cosco's)…_

Terra was running down every aisle, looking for the section with peanut butter. Noticing his frantic pace, a store clerk asked him, "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, there's something wrong! My little brother's gonna destroy his school over some stupid peanut butter!" Terra yelled.

"Uh, so I take that as a yes," the clerk said calmly.

Terra, realizing how crazy he looked, said, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to prevent a national disaster from happening. Where's your peanut butter?"

"It should be in aisle 23 with the bread and jelly," the clerk replied. With a quick "Thank you", Terra ran towards aisle 23.

After running a marathon in trying to find aisle 23, Terra finally found it. Sweating and wheezing, Terra slowly walked over to the area where the 1000 jars of beautiful peanut butter were located. When he had arrived, however, there was not a single jar in sight.

"What? What the…?" Terra yelled and immediately used so much cursing that even a sailor would be shocked.

"Where's the peanut butter? Where's the gosh-durn peanut butter?" he screamed (and with a censor placed by the author due to his rapid-fire cursing). He found a sign and read it aloud.

The sign read, "Due to a salmonella outbreak in the Gongaga, Besaid, Kilika, Destiny Island regions and the countries of the United States and United Kingdom, all peanut butter jars shall be taken off the shelves by order of His Majesty, Ansem the Wise. All peanut and peanut related products will not be in any stores until further notice."

Terra then fell to the ground, whimpering and saying, "We're doomed. We're all doomed."

* * *

_Back at Radiant Garden High School…_

Yuffie kept looking around the sixth floor (the Art floor), despite the fact the fire bells were going off and her fellow schoolmates were running for their lives out of the school. Texting and looking around, she thought and texted, 'Well, Ven's around here somewhere.' When she stopped texting, one of the Art students tackled her to the ground, making her drop her cell phone.

She was about to get it when another student ran and stepped on it trying to escape. "No-oo-oo-oo!" she screamed and ran over to collect the scraps. With tears in her eyes, she made her escape out of the school.

Once Lea came to, he saw that he was outside with his friends, minus Ven. "What happened?" he said groggily.

"I heard that a student accidentally blew up one of the science labs," Zack replied.

Remembering what happened, Lea's face went pale. "Lea, what happened? What did you see?" Isa asked, as if sensing Lea was hiding something.

"Nothing!" Lea yelled.

"Ven did it, didn't he?" Isa asked.

"What…? How did you…?" Lea asked.

"We've been best friends since we were babies, I know when you're hiding something," Isa replied.

"So, what did Ven do?" Vivi asked.

"He wanted to make peanut butter using some chemicals he found and you know what happens next…." Lea replied, looking ashamed.

Lea noticed Yuffie crying silently. As luck, or in this case un-luck, would have it, the Jenova brothers were standing next to her. Kadaj, making fun of the group, said "Well, it seems that old Ven managed to destroy an entire lab. That'll get him expelled for sure." Yuffie, extremely pissed, threw a swift left hook at Kadaj, hitting him square in the face.

Due to the force of the punch, Kadaj had an instant K.O. "You son-of-a-gun, it's your fault that Ven got like this in the first place! If you did start that stupid bet, Ven wouldn't have gone crazy and my phone wouldn't have broke!" Yuffie yelled to the tops of her lungs.

Yuffie then proceeded to talk to the phone shards, saying, "It's okay. You'll be fine. I'll just send you back to the manufacturer to get you fixed."

'Okay, Yuffie has got to let that phone go. It's broken,' Isa thought, staring at the now semi-crazed Yuffie.

Needless to say, school was let out early due to the chemical fire. Students weren't allowed back inside the building for anything. So, Lea and the others had to find a way to find Ven. At the school's parking lot, the group of eight began talking about their failures in finding Ven. "Well, Vivi and me tried talking to Prof. Xehanort about getting some peanut butter, but the fire alarms stopped us," Zidane said in defeat.

"We could find Ven on the fourth floor, but we found out that he beat up Firion," Isa said, pointing at Firion who scowled at Isa.

"Okay, so no one managed to detain him?" Zack said.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Lea said to him.

"So, since he's not in the school where else would he be?" Firion asked the group.

"Well, he's looking for peanut butter, he could've went to the nearest store," Luneth replied. "Or, he could've headed home."

"Okay, one group should go to the store. The second group should swing pass Ven's house and see if he's there. The third group should check the park and see if he's there. If anyone finds him, just call Terra or Aqua or me," Lea told the group. The first group consisted of Garnet, Firion and Luneth. The second consisted of Isa, Zidane and Yuffie. The last group had Lea, Vivi and Zack. Once everyone was grouped up, the teams left.


	9. Little Blue Ven, pt II

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing, so lawyers, don't sue!_

* * *

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Little Blue Ven, pt. II

_On a farm in the region of Gongaga…_

A farmer's son began packing things into a horse drawn cart. Most of those things were apples, meats, farming equipment and peanuts. The farmer's son was proud as his was the only stash of peanuts that were not contaminated by the recent salmonella outbreak. Once preparing his horse, Viktor, the son, sitting in the cart's driver's seat, began to ride off.

He then proudly told the horse, "My stash of peanuts will fetch a pretty penny at the market! Yes, Viktor?"

The horse, suddenly sensing danger in the air, stopped in the driveway. "Uh, Viktor? Why have you stopped?" the son asked.

The son began hearing one of the nearby pigs squealing loudly. He turned and saw the pig running in circles as if panicking. He then heard the chickens clucking loudly as if the world was ending. The son turned to the chickens and saw that most of them were running back into their coop for protection. He then, to check, pulled his lucky charm of a horse shoe to his ear and the look of panic came over his face.

He jumped out of the driver's seat and, with godlike strength, took the horse off of his reigns, picked it up and threw it into the family's cellar. The son then ran over to the pigs and herded them into the cellar. He grabbed the chicken coop and threw the coop into the cellar. The son did that for the produce in the cart, his family members and anything else that was dear to him. Once he was inside the cellar, the son screamed, "Lord, have mercy on our miserable souls!"

* * *

_Back in Radiant Garden…_

The first group (Garnet, Firion, and Luneth) were at the nearby corner store looking for Ven. Much to their relief (but not for the others), Ven was nowhere to be found. "Well, at least we can call Lea and tell him that Ven's not here," Luneth said, pulling out his cell phone.

After calling Lea and telling him what happened, Luneth and Garnet were ready to leave. Firion, however, wasn't.

He was famished since he ate nothing for lunch that day and headed up to the counter to get something. "What do you need?" the clerk asked.

"I'll take a orange pop, some chips and…OH MY GOD!" Firion said, screaming to the tops of his lungs. Garnet and Luneth headed back to the counter to see what was wrong.

What they saw would shock any citizen of Radiant Garden. When people joked about the muffins getting larger in the city, they were only joking. The three saw a muffin that was 18 inches tall and 20 inches wide. Firion, sweating nervously (or was that due to hunger?), looked at the clerk and back at the muffin. Adding the oversized muffin to his order, Firion said, "And give me that beanbag chair with raisins and cinnamon swirls."

The clerk gave him everything in his order and Firion paid 1800 munny for it. When the clerk gave him the muffin, Firion dropped everything else and grabbed the 9 pound muffin. "Uh, will you be able to carry that, sir?" the clerk asked.

"Yep. Yeah, I got it," Firion told the clerk, straining.

Garnet and Luneth picked up the other items Firion dropped. Luneth, due to Firion not being able to see because of the oversized muffin, opened the door and the three left. Outside, Firion joked around, saying, "Can't believe this is 'Fat-free'."

Garnet giggled and Luneth said, "There's gotta be at least 10,000 calories in that." The three then headed for the park to find the others and Ven.

The second group, with Isa, Zidane and Yuffie, headed for Ven's house. Getting off of the bus and walking to the middle class district, the three hoped to find Aqua or Eraqus. Once at the white and blue house of Ven's, the three went through the metal fence and headed for the front door. There, Isa repeatedly knocked on the door and, much to his relief, Eraqus opened the door.

"Isa, aren't you and your friends supposed to be in school?" Eraqus asked.

"You didn't hear?" Yuffie asked him.

"Hear what?" Eraqus asked her.

"And where's Ventus?" Isa explained everything to Eraqus.

Once he was done explaining, Eraqus' face went very pale. "Uh, are you okay, Prof. Pellegrino?" Yuffie asked.

Eraqus pulled out his cell phone, called Terra and someone in Gongaga and said, "Where is Ven now?"

"We don't know. He ran out of school with everyone else, I think," Yuffie replied.

Not wasting any time, Eraqus went into the kitchen to find peanut butter. "Darn it," he said as he couldn't find any.

Taking his car keys and wallet off of the front table, he said to the three, "Come. We must find Ventus before he destroys anything else."

'Jeez, is that Ven kid really this crazy?' Zidane thought as the three entered Eraqus' SUV (recently bought due to a pay raise) Once the young teens were in the vehicle, Eraqus sped off.

At the park, Lea, Vivi and Zack had found Ven, sitting on a tree stump and moping about. Much to their horror, the bully-that-should-never-be-named was there, throwing a baseball at Ven's head and catching it as it bounced off. Zack sighed, thinking, 'Why is Braig here?'

Braig, the captain of the school's archery team, was joined with several of the other mean spirited jocks like Larxene. Braig, Larxene and the other jocks were having fun when Ven grabbed one of the other archers by the legs and used him like a baseball bat.

He swung and hit Braig, sending him flying into the next state. Ven then used the archer/baseball bat and swung it at the cheerleaders. Larxene saw this and immediately fled with the cheerleaders and the archers following behind her. When they were gone, Ven went back to moping on the stump.

Lea, Vivi and Zack saw this and the only thing Lea could say was, "Um, wow."

Vivi turned to Lea and Zack and said, "What do we do now? We found Ven." Zack pulled out his cell phone and called the others. Once he did that, the first group came.

Vivi and Zack noticed that Firion was carrying a 9 pound muffin. Hungry, Vivi asked, "Are you gonna eat all of that?"

"No, why?" Firion asked, setting the oversized, Saran-wrapped muffin onto a bench.

"Well, I didn't eat lunch," Vivi mumbled.

The newly arrived teens saw Ven moping on a stump and Luneth asked, "How long has he been like this?"

"Since we got here. He just beat up a few guys on the archery team and the cheerleaders just ran away moments ago," Zack explained.

'Man, I hope somebody find some peanut butter for Ven before he goes berserk again,' Zack thought

* * *

_Back at the farm in Gongaga…_

Terra managed to drive the car all the way out to the outskirts of Radiant Garden: Gongaga. He arrived at a farm that had a sign, saying "Peanuts for sale." He looked around the farm and noticed that the place was empty.

'Huh? Where is everybody?' Terra thought, still looking around.

He noticed a cellar and went over to it. Terra knocked on the door and the only thing he could here was the cocking of a gun. He immediately ran out of the way when the gun was fired. "What the heck?" he yelled.

The son of the farm's owner burst out of the cellar and yelled, pointing the shotgun at Terra, "You, vile demon, shall not contaminate this batch of peanuts!"

'Okay…This kid's nuts,' Terra thought, backing away.

Remembering what he was there for, Terra asked, "Um, I wanted to buy some peanuts off of you."

"Why? Who sent you?" the boy yelled.

"Well, my little brother's about to destroy my hometown because he hasn't had his peanut butter fix today," Terra tried to explain.

"Rolf! Give that boy the last of the peanuts!" the farmer yelled at him.

"But, Papa, we won't have any for ourselves!" the boy, Rolf, yelled.

"I'll save a few for us. Just give him the peanuts before Eraqus Pellegrino's son destroy the city!" the farmer yelled.

Rolf headed back inside the cellar and came out with a large sack of peanuts. Quickly giving Rolf 6,000 munny and thanking him, Terra grabbed the sack and rushed back to his car. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Terra cried, looking to the heavens.

Once at the car, he threw the sack of peanuts into the trunk, closed it, went into the driver's seat and sped off. 'I hope that the city's not destroy,' Terra thought, hoping to God that Ven didn't go any crazier.

* * *

_Back in Radiant Garden…_

The six kept staring at Ven, wondering what they could do to keep him distracted. Lea wanted to leave him alone while Garnet wanted to give him Firion's muffin. When Firion heard this, he and Vivi became quite defensive of the muffin. "I'm not getting the crap kicked out of me 'cause there's no peanut butter in the muffin!" he yelled.

Ven heard the word "peanut butter" and slowly turned towards the group while sitting on the stump.

He was frowning and began rocking back and forth on the stump. Luckily for the six, Eraqus and the others had shown up in the SUV. The four got out of the car and joined the others. When Ven saw Eraqus, he asked, "Peanut butter…?"

Eraqus, looking around nervously, said, "No, Ventus. I do not have your peanut butter, but Terra…"

Ven/Vanitas didn't want to hear it, as he yelled, "BIG TROUBLE!" He yelled like that for at least ten minutes.

When Ven yelled, a giant windstorm appeared. Vivi, Garnet, and Yuffie passed out. Eraqus, Isa, and Zidane were sent flying towards Eraqus' SUV. Lea and Zack's shirts were nearly ripped off. Once Ven was done screaming, he got off the stump, ripped it out of the ground and began destroying the park again with said stump.

He knocked off the children's merry-go-round from its base, sending it flying into the air. He threw the stump in the air and, sadly, it landed on the roof of Eraqus' new SUV, destroying it. Ven, with his teeth, grabbed the swing set as well as other playground equipment and sent them all flying into the air. Zack and Lea went to Vivi, Garnet and Yuffie and tried to get the three to wake up. Eraqus and the others stared at the once usable SUV as Ven kept destroying the park.

Terra, driving closer and closer to the park, saw a stump flying in the air and hitting a new, white SUV. As he saw the stump demolish the car, he said to himself, "Ven didn't go crazy again, did he?"

Once he was close enough, he parked across the street, took out the sack of peanuts and rushed over to the park's interior. What he saw astonished him.

Large holes where park equipment was filled the park. A few of the park's equipment was lying deep in the grass as if it fell from a large height. Terra saw that the car that was destroyed was his father's. He also saw several of Ven's friends either passed out on the ground, staring at Eraqus' destroyed car or trying to get Ven to calm down. Seeing all this, Terra ran over to Ven and yelled, "Ven, stop!"

Ven/Vanitas was holding up a park lamp when Terra yelled at him. He turned around slowly and saw that Terra had arrived, holding a sack of something. "I want to be alone!" Ven/Vanitas yelled.

"Ven, calm down. I got want you want," Terra said, hoping that Ven wasn't going to tackle him and run.

Terra walked closer and noticed that Ven didn't run. Ven sniffed the air and said, "Peanut…butter?"

"Nope. It's even better," Terra said, hoping that Ven wasn't going to lose it.

"Better?" Ven asked, his dark side going away for a bit. Terra opened the bag and Ven saw the 6,000 beautiful, delicious peanuts.

Ven lunged at Terra to take the bag. Terra saw this and screamed like a little girl, running away. Ven opened the bag and his dark side appeared again. "Peanuts! My precious!" he screamed and began eating the peanuts.

Everyone, including those who passed out, sighed in relief. Eraqus, however, was extremely pissed that his car was destroyed. Needless to say, Ven was grounded for two months.

* * *

_Well, that ends the saga of Ven's peanut butter obsession. Or, is it really the end? Stay tuned. Oh, and review please._

_-miano53_


	10. Aqua's Birthday: Preparations

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing, well except for this computer mouse _:D

_

* * *

Life in Radiant Garden_

Aqua's Birthday: Preparations

That November 4 (the Friday after the peanut butter fiasco), Aqua had a proposal. For her nineteenth birthday (which was the Saturday after, November 12), she wanted to go camping. When Terra and Eraqus heard her proposal, the only thing they could hear was this, "Hey, wanna burn a couple of vacation days sleeping on the ground outside for my birthday?" So, Terra's reply was "Uh, no."

"Oh, c'mon. It's my birthday and I want to see the fall colors," Aqua said, trying to persuade Terra. What Terra heard was, "What if I told you that you can use the bathroom standing up in the woods?" Eraqus heard, "What if I told you you'd have to spend 5,500 munny a night to stay in the woods?" The two then said no again.

"Please, it's my birthday and I wanna go camping with the whole family," Aqua said to the two. What Terra heard was, "You'll wake up freezing, covered in a rash." Eraqus heard, "Serial killers will come and wipe out the family." Terra and Eraqus then saw that Aqua was glaring. "Okay, we'll go," the two quickly said.

The next day (Saturday), Ven woke up to the sound of bumping. He went to the stairs and saw Terra lifting up boxes and setting them down. Ven went downstairs and asked Terra, "What are you doing?" "What does it look like?" Terra said breathlessly.

"Um, well, it looks like you're just lifting up boxes," Ven said, stating the obvious. Terra, dropping the last box, looked at Ven and said, "Aqua's birthday is coming up, so I'm trying to find a box to hide her present." Ven then immediately remembered about her birthday and began to panic. "Don't worry, Ven. I've put your name on the present," Terra said, calming Ven down.

Within seconds, Eraqus had entered the room. When he noticed Ven, he said, "Back to your room, Ventus." Ven, wanting not to go back to his room, asked, "If I give you my allowance and whatever I receive for the next five years, can I lower my sentence?" "No, because the insurance company has promised to replace the SUV with another one," Eraqus replied.

"Well, Aqua wants him to come with us," Terra said. "Terra…" Eraqus said. "Go where?" Ven asked. "Camping," Terra replied. With an exasperated sigh, Ven said, "Aw. I rather stay home." Knowing what Ven is capable of when left alone, Eraqus said, "You're coming with us, but you're not allowed out of my sight. Ven sighed and went back to bed.

* * *

That afternoon, after everyone ate breakfast, changed and headed for work, Ven was left at home. He, after getting his peanut fix, looked around trying to find something to do. Just in the nick of time, the house phone rang and he quickly answered it. "Hello?" Ven answered quickly. "Hey, Ven. How're you holding up?" Zack asked.

"Good, for now," Ven replied sadly. "What's wrong?" Zack asked. "Well, for Aqua's birthday, she wants us all to go out camping," Ven said. "At this time of year?" Zack asked. "Yeah. So, if I freeze to death, you'll know why," Ven told him.

"Well, I know a few places that you guys can go to that has heated cabins and everything," Zack said. "Okay, where are they?" Ven asked. "Well, one's near Twilight Town. It's only about 1900 munny a night. The other's in Nibelheim. That's a little pricier 'cause it's about 2,300 munny a night," Zack told him.

"Okay, what's the number for the one in Twilight Town," Ven said, grabbing a pen and paper. Zack was terrible at giving numbers as he didn't have "phone number rhythm" like others in Radiant Garden had. "It's 1901," Zack started, not pausing at all. Ven turned from the phone in annoyance. 'Again with this?' he thought.

"58-11-6458-7...2," Zack said, ending the number. Ven sighed, saying, "Okay, did you give me your zip code? 'Cause I got a lot of extra numbers here. I can almost start a new number. What do you got?"

"Start again from the top," Ven ordered. "Okay, the number's 19015," Zack started again, pissing off Ven. "811-6458...7-2," he ended again. "Dude, stop doing that!" Ven yelled, "Vanitas" coming out. "Doin' what? I'm giving you the number!" Zack yelled back. "You're not doing the rhythm! Every number starts off with 1-901-dah-dah-dah…dah-dah…dah-dah!" Ven/Vanitas yelled, reciting the "rhythm".

"Okay then! The number's 1-901-581-1645. You then press the numbers 8, then 7 and then 2 to get the front desk. When you've reached the front desk, you should be able pay from the phone," Zack said. "Thank you. Now, was that so hard using the normal number rhythm?" Ven asked, back to his normal self. "Yes," Zack said and hung up.

* * *

Late that night, Terra entered the house with several large suitcases for the trip. After putting up the suitcases, he saw a note that Ven left for him near the house phone. It said, "Here's the number to the campsite in Twilight Town that Zack told me about. It's 1-901-581-1645. And tell Dad that it's only about 1,900 munny a night and the cabins are heated." 'That was thoughtful,' Terra thought as he looked at the note.

He then noticed that there was a message on his cell phone. It was from Cloud. He went to the voicemail and the message was with his usual slow pauses. "Hey, Terra," Cloud's message began. "It's Cloud Strife from engineering class…I need you…to email me the notes…from Prof. Eraqus Pellegrino's lecture. I know…he's your Dad and all, but…can you give me the notes anyway."

What surprised Terra was the end of the message. "You know my email…but…if you don't get a thank you reply from me…Oh yeah; I got…a new phone. So, my new phone number is….19108394335, 'bye!" the phone number part of the message ended going at 150 mph. Terra sighed, saying "Why does Cloud always leave messages like that?" So, Terra pulled out a note card and a pen and sat down on the couch, trying to listen to the message. He placed the phone on the front table and turned on the speaker.

The first try in getting Cloud's new phone number went terribly. Terra winded the message and listened to the number. "19108394335, 'bye," the message ended. Eraqus heard this from upstairs and went downstairs into the living room. He looked at Terra who was hunched over his phone.

"Terra, what are you doing?" Eraqus asked. "Shh," Terra told him as he listened to the message for the second time. "19108394335, 'bye," the message said again at 150 mph. Terra looked at Eraqus and said, "I got nothin' on that pass. I got absolutely nothin'. Seriously, I don't know what to do," Terra said, repeating the message for the third time.

"19108394335, 'bye," the message said, just as fast as before. "I got a 1, 5, 4, two blanks and then I'm out. Not again. Seriously, Dad, I don't know what to do," Terra said, repeating the message for the fourth time. "19108394335, 'bye," the message said. "Okay, I got a 'G'. I got a freakin' 'G'! Cloud gave me a 'G'!" Terra yelled.

Eraqus sat next to Terra and helped him decode the almost undecipherable message Cloud left about his phone number. After about an hour, the two finally found out that the number was 1-910-839-4335. Eraqus looked at the now fatigued Terra and said, "Now, was that hard?" "Yes! Cloud always leaves messages like that!" Terra yelled and went to bed, Eraqus laughing as he left.

* * *

That Monday, after dropping off Aqua at the salon and Ven at school, Terra headed to the national bank to gather funds for the trip. Once there, he noticed that there was a long line that stretched all the way towards the door. He got in line and noticed that he was standing next to Squall and Rinoa. Squall had this very bored look on his face while Rinoa had the more impatient look. "Seriously, what is taking them so long?" Rinoa asked.

"I told you that we should've used the ATM outside," Squall said, looking off into the distance, very bored. "And I told you I don't like the ATMs. What if someone steals my identity while I'm using it?" Rinoa said to him rather loudly. "Yeah, like anyone would want to be you," Squall mumbled. "What was that?" Rinoa snapped at him. "Nothing," Squall mumbled again.

The two finally noticed Terra and Rinoa said to him, "Oh, hey Terra. What are you doing here?" "I'm trying to get some money together for this trip Aqua wants to take with the family," Terra replied, looking for his I.D. in his wallet. "Oh, what kind of trip is it?" Rinoa asked, seemingly interested. "She wants to go camping. I don't know why she wants to, though," Terra replied, finding the card.

"Oh, Squall, you want to go camping with the Pellegrinos?" Rinoa asked, turning to Squall. What Squall heard was, "Do you wanna get killed out in the backwoods where no one will hear us scream?" He turned to her and yelled, "No!" "Oh, c'mon Squall. You need to go out of the city for once and see the wondrous world our Creator made for us," Rinoa said, still trying to convince the guy.

What Squall heard this time was, "You'll wake up sleeping near a pack of hungry wolves." Squall replied with, "I still wouldn't want to go." "Squall, Aqua's our friend and we should help her celebrate her birthday," Rinoa told him. "You'll be chased by a hungry grizzly bear and get mauled to death," Squall heard. He looked at Rinoa and saw that she was glaring daggers at him. "Oh, alright. I'll go," Squall said, defeated.

"Okay, what day does she want to go camping," Rinoa asked Terra. "She wants to go on her birthday," Terra replied. "Where?" Rinoa asked, wondering where the campsite was. "Ven was told about a campsite in Twilight Town and its only 1,900 munny a day," Terra replied. With that, the three was at the front of the line.

Squall, forgetting the "rules" the tellers followed at the national bank, walked up to a teller when one of the other customers left. He pulled out his I.D. card and said, "Hey, how's it goin'?" The teller, extremely nervous, yelled, "Sir, get back!" That took Squall by surprise (hardly anything take the guy by surprise) and he jumped back towards Rinoa, who was laughing. "Sir! You can't come up here yet! We're busy! We will nod you over when we are…ready to go," the teller said, a nervous look on her face.

With that small fiasco, Squall and Rinoa was allowed back up to the teller. After a few minutes, the two were done and left, promising that they were going to see each other at Aqua's birthday celebration. When it was Terra's turn, he walked up there and asked for a slip to take out 15,000 munny. He had everything ready: the slip, his I.D. and the pen number. What he forgot was his pen.

Frustrated, he looked in his jacket and his pants pockets for a pen. The teller, noticing that he was holding up the line, said to him, "Sir, I'm gonna have to tell you to move to the side." Terra, still very frustrated, said to him, "I'm gonna have to tell you to shut up! Anthony with the freckles and hair in a Mohawk!" Due to the threat of calling security, Terra moved to the side.

After a few minutes, one of the other customers gave him a pen. He thanked them and began writing on the slip. He was fine until it came to the line on how much he wanted to take out of his account. Unlike other places, at the Radiant Garden National Bank, you have to spell out the numeric amount you want to take out of bank account (i.e. instead of 16 you'd spell it out like "sixteen"). Terra, whose prowess was not in English, had trouble spelling out 15,000. In his frustration, he kept spelling the number as "fifth-teh thousand".

Seeing this, one of the customers attempted to cut in his spot in line. Terra saw her cutting and began saying, "No. No. No!" As he said that, he did the splits. "No, drop the pen! Drop the pen, woman! Drop the pen!" Terra said. The customer didn't here this and picked up a pen. Terra got up from his splits and yelled, "Drop the pen, lady!"

"What's wrong?" the customer asked him. "I'm not going to be last in line 'cause I'm havin' trouble spelling '15,000'!" Terra yelled. "The words 15,000 are spelled 'F-I-F-T-E-E-N-T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D'," the customer said. In embarrassment, Terra thanked the customer, finished the slip, had 15,000 munny put on his Debit Card and left in a huff.

* * *

_Well, will Aqua's birthday be a success? Stay tuned. Oh, and read and review please. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated._

_-miano53_


	11. Aqua's Birthday: The Road Trip

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing, except for this egg sandwich _:)

* * *

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Aqua's Birthday: the Road Trip

That Friday (November 11, two days before Thanksgiving), Ven came home from school to see Terra packing up his things. "Hey, Ven," he said, carrying a large bag of clothes. "Terra, what are you doing?" Ven asked. "I'm packing. What does it look like?" Terra said impatiently. Ven looked around and saw Eraqus packing his things as well.

"Ventus, please pack your things. You've been procrastinating lately," Eraqus told him. "Okay," Ven said in a huff and headed to his room. Once there, he threw his book bag on the floor and said to himself, "For my five day Thanksgiving vacation, technically nine, I'm spending the time getting frostbite out in the cold." Ven looked around and said to himself, "Oh well. That's better than being here all day."

Ven found his two suitcases Terra packed for him and went into his closet. He packed all of his winter gear, jackets and other clothes. After packing his toothbrush, pillow, teddy bear (he can't sleep at night without it) and other essentials, Ven headed to the back of his closet. There, he opened a hidden door that led to another room. There, he found his 150 jars of Jiffy's, Peter Pan's and store brand peanut butter. He threw about two weeks worth of peanut butter in his suitcase and smiled evilly. 'Yes, I shall now have my peanut butter. And no one's gonna stop me,' he thought, "Vanitas" coming out again.

* * *

On the day of the trip, Eraqus had rented out a large RV (seats up to 10 people) for the family to use. Unbeknownst to him, some of Ven's friend had "invited" themselves to go on the trip. Zack, Yuffie, Lea and Isa had come over to the house with everything packed. Eraqus saw this and said, "What are you all doing here?" "We heard that you guys were going on a trip," Yuffie said, putting her stuff in the RV. "What? This is a family outing, not a fairground attraction," Eraqus said to the four.

"Don't worry, Prof. P. We're not gonna do anything wrong," Zack told him, helping Yuffie with both of their things. "Besides, you'll be busy with Aqua and Ven will have nothing to do. So, we have elected to watch over Ven and to make sure that he doesn't go berserk," Isa said, completely ignoring what Eraqus had said. "And, since Aqua's Ven's sister, she's kinda our sister too. So, can we go?" Lea said.

"Yeah, we've asked our parents and everything!" Yuffie said, pleading with Eraqus. "I need to speak to your parents before I let you all go," Eraqus said, getting a headache. So, Yuffie gave him her new cell phone (with a picture of Pucca glomping Garu) and Eraqus called the teen's parents. Much to his surprise, each of the parents had allowed their children to go. "So, can we go now?" Lea asked. Sighing, Eraqus said, "Yes." The teens cheered and went inside the house to find Ven.

After the eight were packed, situated in the RV and the house under lockdown, Terra (who was the first driver), pulled off and headed to Squall's house. When they arrived, Terra saw Squall standing outside, wearing his usual outfit and holding several suitcases. "Squall!" Terra yelled. Squall looked in the direction of the RV and headed towards it. Once he had entered and placed his things down, he saw the group of teens. "Nope, I'm not going," he said and was about to leave when Aqua stopped him.

"Squall, c'mon, it's my birthday and I want you to celebrate it with me," Aqua told him. Remembering a death threat Rinoa gave him earlier, he said, "Oh, alright. As long as I don't have to babysit, I'm fine." "Hey, we're not babies!" Zack yelled. After that little "misunderstanding", the RV took off towards Radiant Garden University. The group picked up Rinoa, who had at least seven suitcases filled with God-knows-what. When she was on board, the RV sped off towards the nearest interstate.

* * *

Since Twilight Town was about 15 hours away, the group made use of their time either eating, sleeping or staring out in the window. About three hours into the drive, Terra noticed something odd. Every five minutes, at least ten cars would pass them up. Since he was driving a RV, he could only go so fast. Terra, frustrated, thought, 'Next car that tries to pass me, I'm not gonna let them.' Just in the nick of time, a small, white car with three people inside.

As the white car came up behind the RV, Terra began blocking any attempts at the smaller car in passing him up. Whenever the white car tried to go in another lane, Terra would move the RV into that lane. Whenever the car tried to speed up, Terra went faster.

While all this was happening, Isa knew something was wrong as the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up. Noticing that he was pale, Ven asked, "What's wrong, Isa?" Isa's reply was, "I feel a disturbance in the Force." "The 'Force'?" Squall asked, seemingly interested. Ven and the other teens knew exactly what Isa was talking about and Ven began screaming, "Terra, speed man! Speed!"

Terra, already going at speeds at 100 mph, began to slam his foot on the gas. Having fun blocking off the smaller, white car, Terra began to go a bit crazy. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" he laughed maniacally in a high pitched tone, scaring Squall and the others. The white car began to honk its horn at the RV as the RV blocked its path. Terra didn't care and began to blow the horn on the RV, still laughing insanely. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Terra laughed like a madman, still in the high pitched tone.

Squall, worried that Terra went crazy, asked, "Dude, what are you doing?" "It's okay, Squall. Don't worry. I'm having fun," Terra said in his normal voice (and still using the RV to block the white car). "Terra, you're gonna get us pulled over," Squall said to him. The two began to arguing over the whole laughing like a maniac and speeding like crazy situations.

Unbeknownst to the two vehicles, a state patrol officer was creeping up on the two. Once the officer was close enough, he sounded his siren. Terra looked at the speedometer and noticed that he was going at least 125 mph. Screaming, he panicked and pulled the RV over on the shoulder. The car that was behind them went just as fast and was also pulled over.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

In the white car, a certain football coach and two of his colleagues began seething with hatred over the driver in the silver and white RV. The colleague in the front seat said to the driver, "Dilan, you could've slowed down. If you simply did that, we wouldn't be in this mess!" "Shut it, Ice Boy!" Dilan, the coach of the Radiant Garden High School's football team (and former math teacher that horrified Ven and crew a few months earlier). The colleague that he referred to as "Ice Boy" was none other than Prof. Even of Radiant Garden University.

"Dilan, dude, you could've tried slowin' down," the passenger in the backseat, Coach Jecht of Radiant Garden High School. "Shut it, meathead!" Dilan roared at Jecht. "Well, I hope that you have your paperwork in order," Prof. Even said to Coach Dilan. "I said, 'Can it, Ice Boy'," Coach Dilan roared at him, fumbling through his wallet. After he had found his driver's license and registration, the officer came to the window and did the usual.

* * *

_Back in the Pellegrino's RV…_

Terra was on the verge of tears. "Oh man, I gonna go to jail. I'm gonna go to jail," he said, nearly crying at the steering wheel. Lea, just recovering from falling from Terra pulling the RV over too fast and sitting next to one of the left side windows, said to Terra, "Dude, what are you cryin' for? Terra, what're you cryin' for? You're not the one with bootleg DVDs in his suitcase, are you?"

Everyone turned to him in shock and Isa said, "You brought your bootlegs?" Lea shrugged and said, "Squall told him to slow down, didn't he? But no, 'Earth Boy' knows everything." "Oh, shoot! Everyone act normal. Ven, fart. Do something, man," Terra said panicking.

The officer came up to the driver's window and looked at Terra. Surprisingly enough, Terra was recognized by the officer. "Hey, I know you. You're that quarterback from Radiant Garden High School that helped the team win 24-0 during your junior year," the officer said to him with a heavy country accent. Terra turned to the officer and did a goofy smile.

The officer, an alumnus of Radiant Garden High School (Class of 1986), said to him, "Oh, I liked how you won that one game in 2008 against Traverse Town's team and how you shot down the field like a bullet! Whoo whee! That move was so smooth, I almost dang near pissed myself! It was just that good!" As he said that , Terra thought, 'He recognizes me from my football days in high school. Maybe if we crack some jokes with him, he won't take the RV. I don't care in getting a ticket, but as long as he doesn't take the RV.'

"Sorry, son. I hate to do this to you, but since there were two cars involved, I need your license and registration," the officer said to him. "Okay, here you go," Terra said and gave the officer his paperwork and license. The officer took the info and headed back to his squad car to produce the tickets. As he did that, Terra turned to the group and said, "Hey, he recognizes me from football. If we crack some jokes with him, maybe he'll let us go. I don't care if I get a ticket, as long as he doesn't take the RV."

Eraqus, still somewhat injured from Terra's quick stop, said, "This better work…" "Don't worry, Dad. It'll work," Ven said in reassurance. "But first things first. Zack, Yuffie, Ven, crack a smile. Be funny. Isa, hide any of Lea's stuff. Squall, stay cool. Aqua and Rinoa, help Isa. And Lea," Terra said. "What?" Lea said. "Shut the heck up!" Terra yelled (a censor placed on his foul mouth by the author).

The officer came back to the car and said to Terra, "Boy, what the heck were you thinking driving that fast?" Before Terra could say anything, Lea said from the back, "Dude, he was testing the suspension on the RV. The RV's new, got it memorized?" Terra shook his head and slammed his head onto the wheel, thinking, 'Man, this idiot's gonna get me arrested.' He lifted his head and said to the officer, "I'm sorry. That's one of my little brother's best friends. He's just trying to get me in trouble. I'm really sorry."

The officer was satisfied with answer and headed back to his squad car to produce the tickets for the two drivers. As he walked back, Lea (as if he was possessed by stupidity), yelled out of one of the windows of the RV, saying, "Hey officer! Thank God you got a computer! Last week, Terra got stopped over in the castle district and that dude had a typewriter!" The officer, hearing this, began laughing hard and nearly doubled over.

Terra noticed this and said, "Where's my 'Bad Boys II' soundtrack?" Ven shuffled through the CD pouches, found the CD and handed it to Terra. Putting it in the player and turning it to the theme song to the show "Knights" (or in the U.S., "Cops"), Terra told the group to open up the windows as he turned to music up. The music flowed out of the RV and the officer heard it. As he was walking, he began walking to the beat of the song.

* * *

_In the little white car…_

After getting the ticket, Coach Dilan and his colleagues began hearing music coming from the RV. "Is that…the theme song to 'Knights'?" Prof. Even asked. "Yep!" Coach Jecht yelled happily and began singing the lyrics to the song (albeit horrifically off-key). "Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do? What'cha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do…!" Coach Jecht began singing loudly. "All my respect points for you just went down the drain, Jecht," Dilan said. "So? This is_ my_ song!" Jecht yelled and continued singing. As he did that, Dilan drove off, mumbling a series of curses under his breath.

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Back In the RV…_

Terra and the others, excluding Squall, Isa and Eraqus, began singing and dancing to the lyrics to "Knights". "Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do? What'cha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do…!" the group sung loudly (with most of them singing off-key). "Police don't give me no break…" Zack sung loudly and the officer was in the middle of the highway, laughing extremely hard. Sadly, the group of singing young adults euphoria was halted when the officer came to the window and screamed, "Shut it off!"

"Aah!" Terra screamed and shut off the music. The officer handed Terra back his info and said to him, still laughing at bit, "Terra Michael Pellegrino, I need to tell you something. This, so far, has been one of the funniest dang traffic stops I've ever had in my 15 years of police work. Do you know how hard it is to give two meatheads and a nerd a ticket while listening to 'Knights'?" Ven and the others began laughing when the officer yelled, "Quiet!"

The officer looked at Terra and said, "Just do me this one favor. Just keep doing what you doing and keep this 'tank' under 100. Could you do that for me?" Terra nodded and the officer said, "Alright, now you all just have a nice day." Terra, shocked, asked, "What? No ticket?" "No ticket," the officer said, breathless.

No one knows, not even Terra himself, what possessed him to ask this one question. "Why?" Terra asked in a goofy voice. 'Why? Is he stupid or what?' Squall and the others thought. "How come the other car got a ticket?" Terra asked, pissing off the others. "Like I said before, this was one of the funniest traffic stops I've ever had in my 15 years being on the force. Most officers don't get a laugh after seeing all the things we've been through. So, you all made my day," the officer said, making the whole group proud.

As the officer began to walk away, no one knows why Lea asked this one question. "So, does that mean I can keep my bootlegs?" Lea asked. Terra and the others were about to yell at him, but it was too late. The officer was back at the window and said, "You wanna run that by me again?" "You heard what I said," Lea said, being defiant. "Oh, you think this is funny? You think that just 'cause your friend here didn't get a ticket, you could get away with stuff," the officer said.

"I don't know you. I don't like you. Step out of the car, son," the officer said. "Ooh," the group said. Lea, still defiant, said, "Ooh, I'm so scared." The officer pulled out his gun and everyone was like "OMG, Lea's about to get arrested!" "Ooh! Ooh, he's good, guys! He is good! He's really tryin' to get me to cry," Lea said.

The officer then pointed the gun at Lea. Lea's face immediately went pale. "Step out of the car," the officer said. Lea slowly got up and headed outside. When he was next to the officer, he burst into tears, saying, "Oh my god! I'm gonna go to jail? I'm gonna go to jail?"  
The officer put away his gun and said, "Nah! But that was funny, huh?" The group in the RV was dying of laughter. Squall was even laughing extremely hard. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the group laughed. Lea got back into the car and the officer left. When the officer left, the group then headed back on the road, Lea not speaking to anyone.

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_Well, that was a close one for Lea, wasn't it? Alright, for all you guys who aren't reviewing, I NEED those reviews or else I'll get a writer's cramp. Writer's cramps are bad. Do you here me? B-A-D! Okay, now since that was said, read and REVIEW, please._

_-miano53_


	12. Aqua's Birthday: Arrival

_Well, the next few chappies are gonna be a wee bit sadder and longer as I wanted to explain why Ven was so obsessed with peanut butter and why their mom's not present._

_-miano53_

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Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

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Life in Radiant Garden_

Aqua's Birthday: Arrival

After 11 hours being on the road (the traffic stop took nearly an hour), the group arrived at a dark Twilight Town. About an hour later, the group arrived at the campsite. The campsite was a large forest that was near the outskirts of the town. The campsite had at least 10 cabins in the whole area. Caves, a river and mountain passes were just some of the features that were in the forest.

Eraqus (since Terra had to take a break) parked the RV at the campgrounds parking lot. He turned to the group and said, "You all wait here while I check us in." When he left, the group began to make fun of Lea from what happened earlier. Lea pouted and said pitifully, "Leave me alone."

When Eraqus came back, the group began to unpack their things. Squall had to carry his and Rinoa's things. Terra took some of Ven's things and Ven helped Aqua carry her things. Lea and the others carried their own things and the group arrived at the cabins. When they had arrived, they were all relieved to find that the cabins were indeed heated as all the cabins looked like houses.

The group rented out one of the larger cabins that had four rooms and three bathrooms. When the group entered the cabin, they saw that there was a living room, a full kitchen with dining room, large closets in the four rooms, and a full bath in each of the rooms. Yuffie looked at one of the rooms that had three beds and yelled, "I'm in this room!" "Um, what are you talking about? Zack, me and Ven's gonna be in that room," Lea said.

Before an argument could start, Eraqus said, "We shall separate into groups for the rooms. Yuffie, Rinoa and Aqua, you all take the three bed room on the left. Terra, Isa and Ven, you all take the three bed room on the right. Squall, Lea and Zack, you all take the room on near mine and I'll take the master bedroom." They were all going to make objections but once they all saw the "epic-glare-of-death", no one said a word.

So, the three groups went to their assigned rooms and unpacked their things in silence.

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In the room with Squall, Lea and Zack…._

The two teen boys began unpacking their suitcases loudly. Zack, noticing that one of Lea's suitcases was full of bootleg DVDs, said to him, "Aren't you gonna throw those out?" "Of course I'm gonna throw those out," Lea said, still mad at what happened earlier. "Well, you two hurry up and unpack. I wanna get some sleep," Squall mumbled.

"Sleep? Didn't you get any sleep on the ride here?" Zack asked him. "Well, I could've gotten sleep if _someone _wasn't singing the theme song to 'Knights' for ten hours," Squall said, pointing at Zack. "Hey, I couldn't help it. It's my favorite song," Zack said to him. "Whatever," Squall replied and fell onto his bed, falling asleep.

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In the room with Isa, Terra and Ven…_

The three had finished packing and Isa noticed that Ven headed straight for his stash of peanut butter. Isa looked at Ven with understandable fear and asked Terra (who was already in bed), "Do you know why Ven craves peanut butter so much?" Terra, who took off his blindfold, looked at Isa and said, "Well, I can't really remember what happened that started it all, but Ven has liked peanut butter like that since our adopted mother…."

Terra then had a look of sadness on his face. "I'm sorry, for bringing it up," Isa said, regretting asking the question. Ven noticed that Terra was sadden and said, holding a spoonful of peanut butter, "Terra what's wrong?" "Nothing," Terra said, placed his blindfold over his eyes and turned on his right side, facing away Ven and Isa. Isa did the same and Ven looked around, thinking, "What's wrong with Terra?"

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In the room with Aqua, Rinoa and Yuffie…_

Yuffie and Rinoa had finished unpacking and were already for bed. Aqua took longer as she had more things. Once she had her nightwear on and in bed, Yuffie asked her, "So, Aqua, how does it feel being nineteen?" "Well, it feels great!" Aqua exclaimed, hiding a bit of sadness. "Well, I can't wait 'til my nineteenth birthday! I'll go out and have my first drink!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Well, you can't drink until you're 20, remember?" Rinoa said to her. "Oh," Yuffie said, piping down a bit. "Well, I hope that you enjoy your birthday, Aqua," Rinoa said, knowing that Aqua was a bit sad. "Thanks, Ri," Aqua told her, thanking Rinoa. The girls went to sleep. Before Aqua could go to sleep, however, she began to cry silently, thinking, 'Mom, I wish you were here.'

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In Eraqus' Master Suite…_

Eraqus stared at a locket he gave his deceased wife, Alicia Dia-Pellegrino, on their engagement day. He opened it and it was a picture of the two when they were dating. A small tear ran down his eye and he said, "Ah, Alicia, if you can see your children now. Terra's in college and turning 20 next month and Aqua's started her own business. Ventus is doing well in high school and has made many friends."

He looked out the window and noticed that the sky was clear and the moon was full. "Just like the day we adopted Aqua. The moon was full and we celebrated her coming home with a trip to the Outer Gardens. You were so happy," he sighed, looking out of the window. With a few more tears, Eraqus closed the locket and went to bed.

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Later that morning…_

Aqua woke up to the smell of eggs, bacon and ham cooking. She woke up, got out of bed, changed clothes and headed out of the room. She saw that Eraqus and Rinoa was making breakfast for the group. Terra, Lea and Zack were carrying small boxes out of…something out of their rooms. Squall, Isa, Yuffie and Ven sat in the living room, watching TV. When the group noticed her, they began singing (with the exception of Squall and Isa) "Happy Birthday".

"Oh, thanks guys," Aqua said, getting a bit teary-eyed. Terra, remembering the presents he had bought for her, grabbed two small boxes and handed them to his sister. "What's this?" Aqua asked, looking at the unwrapped, plain cardboard box. "This is a little somethin' from me and Ven," Terra said.

Aqua opened the first box and immediately stood still. "How…? How did you…?" she said, hyperventilating. What Terra gave her was an entire collection of Michael Jackson albums. He also included the "This is It" Blu-Ray and Aqua screamed like the fan girl she is. "Aah!" she screamed, nearly making the others deaf.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" she screamed, hopping up and down. "Don't forget about the other present," Ven said.

Aqua picked up the other box, opened it and screamed even louder when she saw what was inside. It was a poster of Michael Jackson practicing for what was going to be his "This is It" tour. The poster was signed by the dancers and Aqua said, "Terra, Ven how did you manage to get this?" "Well, I have my ways," Terra said, looking smug. Eraqus, giving Aqua a present, said, "This is for you."

Aqua saw that the present was wrapped and quickly unwrapped the gift within seconds. She saw that the present was in a jewelry box and opened it. She paused when she saw what it was. The gift was a golden, heart shaped locket with chain and an aquamarine jewel in its center. From what Aqua knew, the locket belonged to a set of lockets her mother owned.

"Your mother wanted you to have it when you were old enough. Since you're nineteen now, I don't see why you shouldn't have it," Eraqus said. Fighting back tears, Aqua said, "Thank you." Zack, Lea and Isa remembered what they had bought for Aqua and gave her a present that was…bubble wrapped for some reason. She opened it and found a card with a group of dancers on the exterior. "Um, you guys could've put it in a envelope," she said to the boys.

"I told you Lea. No one puts a card in bubble wrap!" Isa yelled. "So, envelopes are pricey," Lea said. "Well, just read it, Aqua," Zack said, ignoring what Isa said. Aqua read it and it read, "I'm about five second away…" She opened the card and found out it was one of the musical cards. The interior of the card said, "From givin' you the most awesome birthday wishes ever! Now, everybody go wild!" The music, from a particular artist Aqua liked, began playing one of her favorite songs, "5 seconds." Aqua thanked them and Rinoa and Squall were ready to give her their gifts.

The two were about to give her their presents when the hairs on the back of Isa's neck began standing up. He looked around in fright and said, "Not again!" "Isa, what's wrong?" Zack asked. "You remember that feeling we all had when that Dilan guy showed up to 'teach' us," Isa asked, looking around. "Yeah," the group of teens said, hesitantly.

Ven was about to say something when the ground started shaking. 'Not again,' Ven thought. The giant, rumbling footsteps came closer and closer to the cabin door when one foot broke through the door. "Hello, worthless students…" a familiar voice said. The owner of said voice kicked the door down and Eraqus and the girls could've sworn that all the boys went gay for five seconds.

Each of the boys (including Squall and Terra) began screaming like little girls. "Aah! Aah! Ah-ha-oh! Aah!" the temporarily girlish boys began screaming. Ven hid behind Aqua. Terra began fanning himself in an attempt to calm himself down. Squall passed out. Zack and Lea hid behind Yuffie and Isa ran behind Eraqus. The reason for the screams was that Coach Dilan and Prof. Even had arrived at their doorstep.

"Don't hurt us! Please, spare us! Don't kill us!" the boys whimpered. "What on earth are you all prattling about?" Prof. Even asked. "Were those girls screamin'," someone else yelled and ran inside the cabin. The group (except for Squall who had passed out) noticed who it was and calmed down when they saw that it was Coach Jecht.

He looked down and noticed the broken door. "Geez, Dilan, you could've just knocked. I even know that," Jecht said, wondering why he broke the door down. "What are you doing here?" Zack yelled at them, voice back to its original decibels. "You're not here for cho…" Terra was about to say when he immediately slapped his mouth shut. "No, we heard a scream," Prof. Even said, surprisingly telling the truth.

"And, we noticed that your RV is the same RV that blocked us from coming here earlier," Dilan said, getting angry. Terra's face went pale, knowing he was the one who kept blocking them off. "Alright, now who was it?" Dilan asked, getting very angry. Eraqus, not wanting any more destruction, said to him, "Excuse me, but if you seek revenge on any of these children, I will not hesitate in calling the police."

"And who are you?" Dilan said, forgetting who he was talking to. "Dilan! He's one of my colleagues," Prof. Even said. Dilan looked at Eraqus and said, "Alright. But, next time, you all won't be so lucky." With that Dilan left. Prof. Even and Jecht followed the angry Dilan out and Eraqus immediately called the management, leaving the living room.

Seconds after the incident, Rinoa went over to Squall to revive him. "Squall. Squall," she said. "Don't leave me," Squall mumbled in his sleep. "Squall!" Rinoa screamed in his ear. Squall woke up and looked in the direction of Rinoa. When he saw her face, he mistaken it for Prof. Even's.

"Aah!" he screamed. When his vision cleared up, he saw Rinoa glaring at him. "What do you mean by 'Don't leave me'?" Rinoa asked him, still glaring. Squall, knowing what he was really dreaming about (it was Rinoa), said, "I-I was talking about you." "Oh really? You were dreaming about Tifa, weren't you?" Rinoa yelled, not believing Squall.

"No. Why are you so insecure? Tifa and I are just friends," Squall said, telling the truth. "Oh, I bet that you wanna break up with me and go with her," Rinoa said, not hearing anything he said. "No, I don't want to do that. Besides, Tifa's dating Cloud," Squall said to her. "You want to break up with me and marry Tifa while I go and rot somewhere because you took the best years of my life," Rinoa yelled, still not hearing a word Squall said.

"No, I don't want to marry Tifa. I just said she's dating Cloud," Squall said, not trying to argue. "You know what? If you want to go with Tifa so much, you can! I'll just go somewhere where I'm actually wanted!" Rinoa yelled, running out of the cabin. Squall looked at everyone and said, "I'll be right back."

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Moments after the two ran out of the cabin, Eraqus came back into the living room. Noticing that they were missing two people, he said, "Where's Squall and Rinoa?" Eating breakfast, Isa said, being vague, "They just left." The group got their breakfast and once they did, Squall came back in the cabin with a crying Rinoa.

"What's with her?" Ven asked, putting peanut butter on a pancake. "It's nothing. She's just being overdramatic," Squall said, sitting at the table next to Zack and Terra. "I wouldn't be so overdramatic if you would just tell me who was it that you were dreaming about!" Rinoa yelled again. "I just told you. I was dreaming about you. You were gonna leave me over something stupid and I didn't want you to go. There, are you happy now?" Squall said, still telling the truth.

Rinoa, satisfied, said nothing. When Eraqus saw this, he told the group, "Alright, since it is Aqua's birthday, she has decided for us to explore this area. Here are some pamphlets for the best walking areas in the forest and maps that show the location of tour guides, park rangers and police stations. I expect for you all to walk together in groups. If you all, heavens forbid, are lost, make use of your cell phones and phone a park ranger as soon as possible. I shall stay here and make sure that the management fixes the front door."

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Well, hopefully nothing bad is going to happen to the group. Okay, read and review please._


	13. Aqua's Birthday: Exploration

_Thankies to everyone who'd reviewed my story. Your reviews help shaped the story __. And just as I said before, the next few chapters (particularly this chapter) are going to be a bit sadder, but funny._

_-miano53_

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Disclaimer: Own nothing…._

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Life in Radiant Garden_

Aqua's Birthday: Explorations and Revelations

After eating breakfast, the group split up into three teams. Isa, Terra and Ven were in one group. Aqua, Lea and Zack were in the second group. Squall, Rinoa and Yuffie were in the last group. Once the groups were prepared with their gear, maps, warm clothes, and cell phones, the groups took off while Eraqus watched from the cabin's porch.

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In the group with Terra, Isa, and Ven…_

The group began walking on a beaten path that went deep into the woods. Terra looked at a nearby sign and the sign read, "Do not feed the animals". "Yeah, like we're gonna do that," Isa said, not noticing a jar of peanut butter Ven opened up. Terra, seeing this, told Ven (although in fear), "Ven, keep your peanut butter in your backpack, okay?" Ven stared at Terra and said, "Aw? Can't I just eat a little bit?"

"No, you'll attract bears that way," Terra said. Ven looked at his jar of peanut butter and "Vanitas" came out…again. "Mine," Ven/Vanitas said, holding the jar close to his chest. "Ven, put the peanut butter back in your backpack," Terra said, trying to calm Ven down. Ven/Vanitas was about to say something when they heard an eerie growl.

The boys looked around and much to Terra's dismay, a grizzly bear showed up. It walked over behind Ven and Ven began to back away. "Ven, just give the bear the peanut butter," Isa told him, backing away slowly. "No, it's mine!" Ven/Vanitas yelled. Terra, not wanting to be mauled by a bear, snatched Ven's jar of peanut butter and threw it at the bear. The bear grabbed the jar with its teeth and ran away with it.

Ven immediately began screaming at Terra, "What did you do that for? That was mine!" "I had to or else the bear was gonna maul us. I, for one, am not tryin' to die!" Terra replied. Much to his horror, Ven went after the bear, screaming, "My precious!"

Isa looked over at Terra and said, "Do we really have to follow him? I'm not trying to die." Terra sighed and said, "Yep. We gotta." The two young men then followed Ven deeper into the woods.

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In the group with Squall, Rinoa and Yuffie…_

Squall stared at a pamphlet (while the group walked through the woods) that said, "What to Do When a Grizzly Bear Appears." One of the rules was, "Play dead." "'Play dead'? Really, we're gonna rely on my acting skills?" Squall said, not believing the pamphlet. "Well, experts wrote the pamphlet," Rinoa said, trying to justify the rule. "I gotta agree with Squall here. Maybe bears wrote the rules. They could've been like, 'Play dead, cover yourself with honey and climb onto a large white plate. Don't try to run away from us…I mean, the _bears_'," Yuffie said, not believing the pamphlet. "You two are so immature," Rinoa mumbled, defeated.

"Hey, watch it," someone said. The group stopped and looked around. A blonde haired kid, wearing park ranger's attire, ran up to them, wheezing. "Don't go any further. A bear has been sighted in the woods," the teen warned. "And you're supposed to be…?" Squall asked. "Oh, I'm Junior Park Ranger Hayner Parkman," the ranger, Hayner said to him.

"Hayner, wait up!" another person said. This time, a brown haired girl who also wore the park ranger's attire, ran up from behind Hayner and said, "Hayner, we lost track of Pence." "Oh no. Olette, contact the supervisor," Hayner said to the girl, named Olette. Olette, using her radio, contacted the nearest supervisor for the two. After contacting the supervisor, the two park rangers escorted Squall and the others out of the woods. As they walked out, Squall said to Rinoa, "See? Now are you happy that we didn't go further?"

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In the group with Aqua, Lea and Zack…_

Lea and Zack was reading a pamphlet that said, "What to Do if a Wild Wolf Shows Up." One of the rules said, "Do not feed them." "Well that's obvious. Who would wanna feed a wild animal," Zack said. Lea, remembering what Ven did when they went to the zoo in sixth grade, said, "Ven would."

Aqua, walking around, began to absentmindedly walk away from the boys. Lea and Zack didn't notice due to them still reading the pamphlets. As she walked, she noticed that the forest was getting thicker and thicker. She turned around to see if Zack and Lea followed and found out that they were nowhere to be found. "Um, Zack! Lea?" Aqua yelled.

There wasn't a response. Aqua pulled out her cell phone and tried calling Zack and Lea. Much to her dismay, her cell phone didn't have a signal. "No. No, no, no, no, no," she said, panicking. "Okay, what did the pamphlet say when it comes to being lost? Um, trace your steps back," Aqua said to herself.

She looked down and saw that her footsteps in the dirt had disappeared. Aqua looked around and saw that an eerie fog had rolled in. "OMG, I'm gonna die out here," Aqua cried. Her fears increased when she heard footsteps.

Looking around, Aqua pulled out her pocketknife Lea gave her for her birthday last year (don't ask) and said, "Don't come any closer! I'm armed!" The sound of footsteps came closer and closer and Aqua's heart began racing. "Oh my god, I'm gonna die on my birthday."

Once the sounds of footsteps were close enough, the fog began to dissipate. When the fog thinned, Aqua saw that the sound of the footsteps belonged to a female wolf and her three pups. Due to the news of wolf attacks in the forest, Aqua's heart didn't stop racing. The female brown and white wolf noticed her and stared at her.

Two of the pups sniffed the air and turned towards Aqua. One pup, with light brown and white fur and deep blue eyes, ran over to Aqua. She screamed and covered her face, screaming, "Don't hurt me!" Aqua had expected to die and was proven wrong when she uncovered her face and noticed that the pup was sniffing her backpack.

The second of the pups (who had brown fur and blue eyes) cautiously walked over to Aqua. The way he walked over to her and began playing with the pup sniffing her backpack reminded her of Terra. The last of the pups had white and black fur and light blue eyes that were similar to Aqua's. The female pup ran over to the brown pup and jumped onto his back, causing the three pups to play roughly. The female wolf, who was determined by Aqua to be the mother, growled at the pups, scaring them.

The three pups went over to the mom and began playing with her. Aqua saw this behavior and noticed that the mother's behavior was similar to her deceased mother's. "That brown pup is like Terra. He's usually caution around strangers. The little light brown and white pup is like Ven, fun loving unless denied his peanut butter. That black and white pup kinda reminds me of…me," Aqua said to herself.

The smaller of the pups (the light brown and white pup) ran back over to Aqua and began jumping up on her like a dog. He began nipping at her backpack, as if he really wanted something. Aqua, remembering a peanut butter sandwich she made for Ven, pulled out the sandwich and said to the pup, "You want this?" The puppy barked and licked her face playfully.

The other pups rushed over to her and the pup that was like Terra wagged his tail in excitement. The pup that was Aqua-like looked at Aqua with interest and seemed as if she wanted to know what she was going to give her brother. Aqua took the sandwich out of the Suran wrap and the puppy that reminded Aqua of Ventus snatched the sandwich and ran with it.

The other pups chased after him as if saying, "Hey! Wait!" The Ventus-like puppy stopped suddenly and dropped the sandwich. The Terra-like puppy saw the dropped sandwich and started nibbling on it. The Aqua-like puppy did the same, angering the Ven-like pup. Said pup jumped on the Terra-like puppy and the two began a small battle for dominance. Aqua, knowing a moment like that will never happen again, took her cell phone and began using the camera on her phone to record the event.

The Aqua-like pup joined in the fray and the fight was quickly over as the Ven-like pup took the sandwich and growled at his siblings. "Heh, that's just like Ven," Aqua said aloud. She immediately froze when she felt a nudge on her left hand. She looked down and saw that the mom had licked her hand.

Aqua's fears died down and she said to the wolf, "You guys really aren't bloodthirsty creatures. You guys are pretty nice." The mom began licking her face and the pups, who'd finished the sandwich (even though the Ven-like puppy had trouble with the peanut butter being stuck to the roof of his mouth), ran over to their mom. Aqua, turning off her camera, began scratching the wolves behind their ears. After a few moments with the wolf family, a howl from deeper in the forest stopped the moment.

The mom began howling back and Aqua turned her camera back on. She recorded the pups attempting to howl and the mother's beautiful howl. The way she howled began to move Aqua to tears. 'Why does this sound like that lullaby Mom used to sing to me?' Aqua thought, tearing up. After the group was finished howling, a male black and brown eyed wolf came running from deep in the forest.

The mom and pups ran over to him and Aqua realized that the male wolf was their father. The way he behaved with the pups reminded Aqua of Eraqus. When he noticed Aqua, he walked over to her and sniffed her. Within moments, he became somewhat interest in her, as if saying, "Why is this human by herself?" Aqua (who was still recording the family) thought, 'You remind me of Dad.' By the father's insistence, the family did their last goodbyes (smelling Aqua and the pups trying to play with her) and bolted off into the deepest parts of the forest.

Aqua silently began crying, thinking, "We used to be like that. Together with you, Mom…" A sudden wave of happiness came over her and she looked up to the heavens. The fog disappeared completely and she saw that the skies were filled with the bright, noon day sunshine. "You were watching me the whole time, weren't you?" Aqua said.

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Back with the group of Terra, Isa and Ven…_

Terra and Isa ran through the forest, chasing Ven the whole time. "Ven, get back here!" Terra yelled. Ven/Vanitas ignored him. "Ven, stop running!" Terra kept yelling. Ven/Vanitas still ignored him.

Isa began to slow down, saying, "My leg! Leg cramp!" He tripped over an overgrown root and Terra stopped, turning towards Isa. He rushed over to him and said, "Are you alright?" "I'm fine. Just go get Ven!" Isa yelled breathlessly. Terra rushed off to find Ven and Isa noticed something was wrong. The boys were in the deepest parts of the forest.

As Terra ran after Ven, he noticed that the light in the forest was dimming. He immediately stopped when he saw Ven holding an empty jar of peanut butter. "My precious is gone," Ven/Vanitas said, sounding as if he was about to cry. "Ven, don't ever do that again," Terra said, breathless. Ven/Vanitas, very angry, yelled, "It's your fault! If you hadn't given that grizzly bear _my _peanut butter, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"My fault? It's my fault that you go crazy over peanut butter?" Terra said, bewildered at Ven's behavior change. "Yeah, it's your fault! Just like it's your fault that Mom's dead!" Ven/Vanitas yelled at Terra. That was a very touchy spot as Terra did blame himself for his mother's death when he was thirteen.

Terra immediately grabbed Ven by the collar and in a dark tone, he said, "Don't…you…dare…say…that again!" "Or what?" Ven/Vanitas said. "You gonna kill me just like you did Mom?" Terra dropped Ven and punched the teen in the face, knocking him to the ground. "You…know nothing about what happened that day," Terra said darkly.

"I know that I was five when she died and y-you told her to drop dead when she didn't give you your chocolate from the store," Ven said, turning back to his normal self. Terra said nothing as he tried to hold back tears. "I didn't mean what I said that day. I was just angry…" Terra said in a low voice, looking to the ground in guilt. "She went back even though she knew she had to take it easy because of her pregnancy," Ven continued to say, becoming very sad and angry at Terra. "Next thing you know, she's dead…And she's dead because of you!" Ven yelled.

"I'm sorry, Ven," was all Terra could say. "Sorry? Sorry? You're the reason why I don't have a mom!" Ven yelled, not giving Terra any slack. "Well, you know what! She was my mother too! You weren't the only one who lost something that day! Dad lost a wife! Aqua lost her mom and friend and I did too!" Terra yelled back, anger long held back in his heart resurfacing.

"I blamed myself for her death! That's why I didn't speak for two years, Ven! That's why I didn't do anything but mope!" Terra yelled, turning away from Ven. Ven, noticing that Terra's voice was extremely saddened, was shocked to hear the confession. With tears and still turned away from Ven, Terra said, "I actually wanted to trade places with her so you and Aqua could still have her. I wanted to trade my life for hers, but you know that can't happen."

Still shocked, Ven said, "I-I didn't know. I'm sorry." Terra sighed, wiping the tears from his face, and said, "Don't be. You have the right to be angry with me." "No, I don't. It's not your fault that Mom lost control of the wheel," Ven said.

Terra, who wiped his face again, turned back to Ven and said, "You're right. But, I'm still sorry for what happened. Maybe if I didn't say anything about not having chocolate…" "Terra, stop saying that. You…I'm sorry for blaming you. You didn't mean what you said," Ven said to him. Terra placed his hand on Ven's head and began to ruffle his hair a bit. "It's okay," he said and the two brothers shared a rare hugging moment.

_

* * *

Back with Squall, Rinoa and Yuffie…_

The three noticed a certain RV that looked odd. Hayner and Olette, used to the sights, were unfazed by the sight of the odd RV. The reason why the RV looked odd was that the RV had Christmas lights strewn over the vehicle. Folding chairs were in front of the RV. In between the chairs, there was a small hibachi grill that was cooking something…odd. A couple, that Squall named "Ma and Pa Dalmer", were sitting in the chairs, the husband tending to the…"meat".

Yuffie, a bit frightened, asked Hayner and Olette, "Uh, who are they?" "Oh them? That's just Mr. and Mrs. Parkman, Hayner's parents," Olette replied. "And now you know why I'm a park ranger: to get away from them and their weirdness," Hayner replied, sighing. His parents noticed the group and invited them to come over.

Hayner warned the group, saying, "Do not, I repeat, do _not_ drink any liquid my dad offers you." "Why not?" Rinoa asked. "Hayner's just over dramatizing," Olette said. "I'm not. Remember what happened when I introduced you to them as my girlfriend!" Hayner yelled. "Yeah, they offered me something to drink and…I don't really remember much after that," Olette said.

"My dad offered you moonshine! You got drunk, singing 'Whip my Hair' all day. I then had to explain to your dad why you came home drunk!" Hayner yelled. "Well, you did tell your dad not to do that again, right?" Olette asked. "Yeah, but he doesn't listen to me!" Hayner yelled.

Since the group didn't come over to Hayner's parents, the Parkmans came over to them. "Hey, how y'all doin' today," Hayner's dad (from the region of Gongaga) said to them. "Uh, hi dad. These are some of the guests staying at the park today," Hayner said nervously. "Well I'll be! How'd y'all like some 'White Lightning'?" Mr. Parkman asked.

Yuffie, wanting to try out moonshine, was about to say yes when Squall said, "No thanks." "Aw, they don't want none, honey," Mr. Parkman said to his wife. "Well, maybe it's because they don't want to get drunk at one in the afternoon," Mrs. Parkman (from the Traverse Town region) said to him. "Hmm. Well, how about somethin' t'eat?" Mr. Parkman asked.

"Ooh, what is it?" Yuffie asked, feeling a bit hungry. Mr. Parkman went over to the hibachi grill and lifted the top. What was cooking would have disgusted anyone who wasn't used to Gongaga (and U.S./Appalachian) style of cooking. Mr. Parkman was grilling a…raccoon and an opossum that he had shot in the forest. Yuffie, Squall, Rinoa, Hayner and Olette's faces went green as if they were about to be sick.

"Dad…Why?" was all Hayner could say before throwing up. "I'm gonna go now," Yuffie said and quickly walked off. Squall just stared at the "meat" with disgust while Rinoa had to drag him back to their cabin. Olette, tending to the now very sick Hayner, said to Mr. Parkman, "You know most people won't eat that." "So? This here's a delicacy," Mr. Parkman said.

_

* * *

Back in the deepest parts of the woods…_

Aqua began walking around the forest, trying to find a signal. Once she had found one, she cheered and turned on the GPS function. Much to her surprise, the locations of Terra and Ven had shown up on the screen. "Oh, they're all the way out here?" Aqua said to herself. She was about to move in that direction when she saw a pack of wolves bolting in the direction Terra and Ven was. "Oh no," Aqua thought and went after them.

_

* * *

Back with Terra and Ven…_

The two brothers had reconciled with one another. "Okay, let's go back to the cabin. Isa should be there with the others," Terra said to Ven. Ven smiled and the smile disappeared once the two heard a growl. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw that the same grizzly bear from before had appeared and he looked very hungry.

Terra was about to run when Ven said, "Remember what the book said?" "What? Play dead? You know that doesn't work," Terra said. "How can you be so sure," Ven asked, noticing that the bear was creeping up to him. "Well, how do you know when they report a dead body that was mauled by a bear, that guy wasn't playin' dead?" Terra asked.

"Terra, Ven!" Aqua yelled. "Aqua," Ven yelled, making the bear turn in Aqua's direction. Aqua suddenly stopped and her heart began racing. 'Okay, why did I do that?' Aqua thought. The bear began charging at her when the pack of wolves from earlier attacked the bear.

As they attacked it, the three noticed that there were at least seven wolves fighting. One had silver fur (like Prof. Xehanort's hair) and brown eyes. Another had light, almost blonde fur and blue eyes (reminding the group of Cloud). Two had dark brown colored fur and brown eyes (reminding them of Rinoa and Tifa). Another had brown fur and blue eyes (kinda like Squall). The last two were the parent wolves that Aqua had met before.

After a while, the bear gave up and ran back into the forest. Ven ran over to Aqua, screaming, "Hide me!" Terra, however, noticed that the wolves didn't bother to attack. The three pups from before began jumping on his legs, scaring him. "Uh, Aqua?" he said, frightened.

The father of the pups (and the leader of the pack), motioned for the pups to follow him and he ran off into the forest. The whole pack followed him and Aqua said to them, "Thank you guys!" Ven and Terra, shocked at what had happened, asked, "'Thanks guys'?"

"Yeah, we met a few moments ago," Aqua said, not noticing the shocked faces of her brothers. "Anyway, we should go now. Dad and the others probably are looking for us," Terra said. With that, the three siblings left. As they left, Terra thought, 'So, why did those wolves help us?'

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Okay, read and review now._


	14. Aqua's Birthday: Reconciliation

_This chappie should be a bit funnier than the last one, but who knows._

_-miano53_

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Disclaimer: Still own nothing, not even the pretzels I ate while writing this (mmm, pretzels) _

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Life in Radiant Garden_

Aqua's Birthday: Reconciliation

The next few days weren't really worthy of note. Most of the time, the group went to explore Twilight Town. Other times, the group stayed inside the cabin, tired. Early that particular Thursday morning (two days before the group had to leave for home), Eraqus had invited Terra to go fishing with him. Terra, who was in the kitchen eating breakfast and not one for fishing, said to him, "Why? Isn't there food here?"

Eraqus, wearing fisherman's attire, looked at him and said, "Yes, but I wish to spend some 'Father-Son' time with you." Terra sighed, mumbling, "I don't have a choice in this, do I?" "No, you don't. Now, go get your things. I'll meet you outside," Eraqus said leaving. With that, Terra put on his outerwear and took a fishing rod that Eraqus had brought for him for that particular trip. With a exasperated sigh, Terra left with Eraqus to go fishing.

* * *

While this was happening, Zack and Lea had entered Ven and Isa's room. The room's occupants were fast asleep. "Are you sure Isa's not gonna kill us for this?" Zack asked Lea. "No, he won't. At least I hope he doesn't," Lea said, mumbling the last part.

The two boys had planned on pranking Isa and Ven at least once during that trip. Armed with a can of whipped cream, a bag of feathers, two buckets of molasses, ropes, pulleys and a can of silly string, Lea and Zack prepared their prank. The plan was to humiliate the two in "epic proportions" (as Lea would put it). Zack, grabbing some ropes, created the pulley system that would activate if either Isa or Ven was to get up in their beds. Using the system, he had the bucket dangle over both Ven and Isa's heads. With the bag of feathers, Zack connected the bag in the system so that if Ven and Isa were to leave the room or if one of them were to leave, the bag of feathers would fall, coating the two from head to toe.

Lea, using the cans of whipped cream and silly string, sprayed the silly string around and in Isa's hair. Doing the same to Ven, he sprayed the substance in his hair. For an added touch, Lea sprayed the whipped cream in both boys' boots, shoes and hands. Stifling his laughter, he took a pen from his pocket and began drawing on Ven's face. He did the same to Isa and once the two were done, they left, closing the door behind them.

The reason behind them doing that was because of a prank pulled on Zack and Lea a year earlier. The prank was held during Terra's birthday and the two were pranked by Isa and Ven. The prank was a stink bomb that was disguised as cupcakes. Lea and Zack bit into the cupcakes. Once they did, a wave of stink fell onto the two and they ended up smelling as if a skunk had sprayed on them. From that day forward, the two boys vowed revenge against the two.

_

* * *

In the kitchen with Aqua, Rinoa, Squall and Yuffie…_

Yuffie was being instructed by Rinoa on how to make waffles without burning the cabin down. As she began to cook, Rinoa noticed what Yuffie was attempting to do (she was texting while she was cooking; don't ask why). She was attempting to put oil onto an open flame. "Yuffie! Yuffie, don't do that! You brush oil onto the _waffle maker_, not an open flame. And please put up the phone," Rinoa said, taking the jar away from her.

As this was happening, Squall noticed Zack and Lea entering the kitchen, snickering the whole time. "Okay, what's up?" Squall asked, eyeing the two suspiciously. "Nothing," Lea replied quickly. "It's nothing, Squall," Zack replied. "Okay, if it's nothing, then why are you two giggling," Squall asked.

His questions were answered when he heard a loud scream coming from Ven and Isa's room. "What the…? What the freak?" Isa yelled loudly (and the censor place due to Isa's cursing). "Aah! What is this? Molasses? Feathers? What the what?" Ven screamed (and a censor placed on him due to "Vanitas" coming out again).

Lea and Zack began rolling with laughter. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the two boys screamed, laughing. "Oh, that's funny!" Lea screamed, holding his sides. "Lea, Zack, what did you two do?" Aqua asked, worried. "Nothing," Zack and Lea said at the same time.

Their laughter stopped when the group saw Isa and Ven come out of the room. Squall, Rinoa, Yuffie (who had stopped texting and cooking), and Aqua attempted to stifle their laughter as they saw the two boys covered in molasses, feathers, whipped cream and silly string. "Lea! I'm gonna kill ya!" Isa screamed.

"Zack, Lea, you have five seconds to run," Ven/Vanitas said, shaking with anger. "Well, that's what you get for pranking us last year," Zack said to him. "Five," Ven/Vanitas stared. "Ven, buddy, it was just a harmless prank," Lea said. "Four," Ven/Vanitas said, still counting.

Lea and Zack looked at each other. "Shall we run for our lives?" Zack asked Lea. "Three," Ven/Vanitas said, getting louder. "Oh yes, let's," Lea said calmly. The two took off and Isa and Ven chased after the two out of the cabin. "Well that was interesting," Squall said, immediately becoming uninterested in the boys' wellbeing.

_

* * *

In the woods, near a river with Terra and Eraqus…_

Terra, sitting on the bank, looked very uninterested as he watched Eraqus throw out his line. "Terra, aren't you going to throw out your line?" Eraqus asked. "You know I suck at fishing," Terra mumbled. "Well, practice makes perfect. So, throw out your line," Eraqus said. Terra, getting up and grabbing his fishing rod, did just that and the hook landed in a nearby tree branch.

He scowled at the tree, cursing it for being there. After a few moments, Terra managed to get the line out of the tree and he recast it. Much to his surprised, the line landed in the water. 'Finally! It took three years but I did it!' Terra thought happily.

When Terra's line was in the water, the two men said nothing. After a while, Terra started the conversation, saying, "So, why did you take me out here? It's not really for fishing is it?" Eraqus sighed, saying, "Well, you got me. I wanted to talk about what happened six years ago."

'Why? There's no point in talking about it?' Terra thought. "Well, we should. We haven't spoken about it since your mother's funeral," Eraqus said. Terra said nothing. He was fighting back anger that he bottled up from those six years ago.

"Why do you want to talk about it now? You've said what you had to say to me about that during the funeral," Terra said in a low voice. "Well, we never talked about it and once you muted yourself, I…you became distant towards me," Eraqus said. "What did you expect? You expected me to be 'happy-go-lucky' after what happened? And besides, you told me that it was better if I said nothing at all," Terra said, staring at the water.

"I…" Eraqus attempted to say but silenced himself. "You told me it was my fault that Mom died; that my big mouth killed your wife," Terra said in a dark voice, still looking at the water. Eraqus couldn't find anything to say. "You treated me that whole year as if you didn't love me anymore. So, I stayed silent those two years," Terra said, remembering that day.

"Terra, I'm sorry," was all Eraqus could say. "Ven and Aqua blamed me for Mom's death because of you. I even blamed myself…Well, I still kinda do," Terra said, still speaking in a low voice. "I should have vented my anger in a more correct manner. It was wrong for me to blame you for her death," Eraqus said, finding his voice.

"You should've thought about that before you did that to me," Terra mumbled. "Terra, I said that I was sorry. I know that you feel loss over her death. I do too. I lost my wife of 15 years that day," Eraqus said, raising his voice. "So you thought telling the 'boy who killed your wife' that you hated him was gonna make you feel better?" Terra yelled, staring at Eraqus.

"Yes! I did!" Eraqus yelled. Terra was taken aback. "I was blinded by my anger, so I only saw you as a killer! I wanted you to suffer just as much as I did!" Eraqus said, pulling back the line to find nothing on it. He walked closer to Terra and in a lower tone, he said to his son, "But, when you became mute, I saw that you were hurting in ways that none of us did."

Terra pulled back his line and dropped the line. "You still hate me for that, don't you?" he asked Eraqus. "No, no I don't. I love you just as much as I love Aqua and Ventus," Eraqus told him. Doing something that Terra hadn't done in years, he began to cry. Seeing this, Eraqus quickly walked up to him and hugged him. "You don't have to hurt anymore. As your father, I'll share it," Eraqus said. Surprisingly, the moment was interrupted when the sound of rapid fire cursing filled the air, making the father and son release their hug and look around in surprise.

_

* * *

While that happened…_

Ven and Isa (after changing clothes) began to make plans for capturing Zack and Lea and making the two suffer. Isa's plan was to lure the two in using their favorite foods; hot wings and dumbapple pie. Ven refuted that plan, saying that that was going to attract bears. "So, what is your plan?" Isa asked impatiently. Ven, somewhat back to his normal self, said, "Okay, we'll need two horses, two ropes, a dart gun, a GSP, a map and a jar of peanut butter."

"Why on earth would we need any of that stuff?" Isa asked. "Well, since Lea and Zack didn't go that far, we just go 'Man Hunter' on them," Ven said to him. Knowing about the show "Man Hunter", Isa surprisingly agreed with the plan. "So, just I'll get Dad's debit card and pay for the stuff," Ven said. With that, the two began phase 1 of their plan.

_

* * *

While Ven and Isa were fully prepared to capture Lea and Zack…_

Lea and Zack were hiding in a tree, scared out of their wits. "Lea, I don't think pranking them was a good idea," Zack said to Lea. "Ya think?" Lea yelled. Noticing that Ven and Isa were no longer on their trail, the two boys climbed down the tree. "Okay, so we should head back to the cabin," Zack said. "And get killed by Ven and Isa? Nah, I'll just stay in the woods," Lea replied. The boys began arguing over whether or not to go back to the cabin when they heard the sound of horses neighing.

They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Ven and Isa, wearing Western detective clothes, chasing after them on horseback. "Run for it!" Zack yelled, sprinting forward. Lea followed him, screaming. As Zack and Lea ran through the forest, Ven (surprisingly good at throwing a lasso) threw his lasso and caught Zack. Zack was pulled back and as he was pulled to Isa and Ven, he screamed at Lea," Aah! Help me, Lea!"

Lea ignored his friend's cry for help and kept running. Since Ven was busy tying up Zack, Isa chased after Lea on horseback. Isa, throwing the lasso, attempted to capture Lea. It missed and landed onto the ground. So, Isa, pulling out a dart gun, began shooting at Lea. Much to Lea's surprise, Isa shot him three times with the dart and he began to feel dizzy.

Lea spun around awkwardly as if he was a bear. Attempting to speak, he said, "Gwaah! Ooh! Oh! Ooh! Ooh!" After seven dramatic minutes of Lea spinning around, he finally collapsed to the ground.

Ven, finally catching up with Zack tied up (and was being dragged), said to Isa, "You shot Lea?" "Yes, and now we can go to phase two," Isa said, smiling evilly. "Vanitas" came out again and Ven/Vanitas said, "Okay, get the rope. We'll drag the two back." Isa, following what Ven said, tied up Lea and the two dragged the two now unconscious boys back.

* * *

_Back at the cabin..._

Terra, Eraqus, Squall, Rinoa and Aqua were in the living room, sitting on the couches while watching TV. Yuffie, however, was sitting at the kitchen table, texting her friend Garnet. When she heard a loud banging at the door, she looked up and said, "I got it!" She went to the door and what she saw scared her.

Ven and Isa were pulling ropes that had an injured Lea and Zack tied in them. Afraid to ask, Yuffie said, "Um, w-what happened to them?" Isa, lying, said, "Oh, a bear got them." Ven/Vanitas, telling the truth said, "They'll now think twice before pranking me." Yuffie's eyes bulged and Terra and the others looked over at the door. Knowing what happened earlier, no one came to Lea or Zack's aid. As Yuffie closed the door, she thought, 'Okay, hopefully this vengeance thing is over between them.'

_

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On the last day of the trip…_

The group said their goodbyes to the park rangers Hayner, Olette and Pence (who was found giving a wolf pup a turkey sandwich). Ven, after packing his things in the RV, told them, "Well, you guys should visit us at Radiant Garden." "Yeah, there's plenty of stuff to do there," Yuffie said, agreeing. "Okay, I ask my parents if I can visit you guys before the Christmas break," Hayner said to the two. Olette and Pence agreed to visit the group sometime around the next year and the group left in the RV.

Terra had elected to drive again and was surprisingly allowed to by Eraqus. On the sixth hour of driving, everyone but Aqua had fallen asleep. Noticing that Terra had said nothing since two days ago, Aqua became worried. So, she moved closer to Terra and asked him, "Are you okay? You haven't said anything since Thursday."

Terra said nothing. He just kept his eyes peeled on the road. "Terra, if there's something wrong, you can tell me," Aqua told him. He still said nothing. "Okay, I get it. You don't feel like talking," Aqua said, disappointed.

The RV went silent for a few moments until Terra said, "Are you still mad at me for what happened six years ago?" When he said that, Aqua knew exactly what he was talking about. "You mean when Mom died? No, I wasn't mad at you. I knew blaming you wasn't the right thing," Aqua replied. "So, you forgive me?" Terra asked. "There's nothing to forgive. You didn't kill her or anything," Aqua replied.

Terra smiled, saying, "Thanks, Aqua." "You're welcome, Terra. And just to let you know, I was mad but…you didn't mean it when you told Mom what you said," Aqua replied. With that, the two reconciled and went silent as they drove back home.

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Well, at least the Pellegrino's reconciled. But, will Lea and Zack get vengeance. Stay tune. Okay, since that's over, read and review._


	15. Bully Troubles, pt I

_Now the chappies should be very funny again as the explanation over what happened to Aqua, Terra and Ven's mom is over. So thankies for everyone that read the story._

_-miano53 _

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_Disclaimer: Own nothing…_

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_Life in Radiant Garden_

Bully Troubles, pt. I

Despite its reputation of being a scholarly school with a no-tolerance for bullies, Radiant Garden High School has a long and fascinating history of high school bullies. The first of the most notable of the school's bullies was Dilan "The Whirlwind Lancer" Girard (now known as Coach Dilan). During the years of 1987-1991, he was famous for giving his victims wedgies and pinning them onto the walls with lances. The second of the famous bullies was Aeleus "Tomato Face" O'Conner. During the years of 1986-1990, he would walk up to students and shove a tomato in their face.

The third of these was the legendary Xehanort "Prince of Darkness" O'Sullivan II (father to Prof. Xehanort). From 1965 to 1969, he'd give students wedgies, throw hot chocolate in their faces and even took their lunch money to fund his "college tuition". Since he was famous for giving a professor a wedgie and not getting in trouble for it (he blamed his friend Eraqus), he was said to have invented the "World Wide Wedge". Now this year's contenders for "Greatest Bully of 2010" include Braig "The Freeshooter" Archer, Larxene "The Savage Nymph" Pelletier*, and Marluxia "The Graceful 'Assassin''' Acerbi**.

The Monday morning after the Thanksgiving vacation, Braig made a commitment to pound a kid every day so he could get the honor. His way of telling who he was going to pound on was different than any other bully's methods. So, putting on a particular shirt in the locker room, he readied himself to tell the students of Radiant Garden High School who was going to be his next victim. 'Okay, this should keep me in the running,' he thought as he walked out of the locker room.

Ven and the others didn't know about the whole "Greatest Bully of 2010" contest the bullies of the school and the school's newspaper was holding. So, when Ven saw Braig walking through the halls with a jacket on, he could only think of the worse. "What do you think's goin' on?" Ven asked Luneth, who was standing next to his locker, finishing his homework. "I dunno, but it can't be good if it's Braig," Luneth said to him, not looking up from his homework.

As Braig walked in the halls, they immediately either ran away or they pinned themselves to the wall. When he stopped in the middle of the hall, a large group of kids gathered around him. He opened his jacket and the kids saw what was on his shirt. They gasped and said, "Zack Fair?" Braig smiled evilly and the kids quickly dispersed.

* * *

_In Zack's math class…_

Prof. Sazh Katzroy began taking attendance. "Yuffie Kisaragi," he said, checking off names. "Here," Yuffie said, finishing a text. "Yuffie, you know there's no texting in my class," Prof. Sazh said. "Okay, okay," Yuffie said, putting her phone away.

"Isa Noches***," Prof. Sazh said, looking around for Isa. "Right here, sir," Isa said, raising his hand. "Firion El, Zack Fair, Lea Ignis****, Kadaj Jenova, Yazoo Jenova, Ven Pellegrino and Luneth Topapa," Prof. Sazh said. "Here," each of the boys said. After he was finished with attendance, Prof. Sazh wanted to start class.

"Okay, everyone turn to page 185 and we'll begin chapter 8: Trigonometric Functions," Prof. Sazh said. The group did and he began the lesson. "Okay, who can tell me about the sin, cosine and tangent functions?" he asked. Yazoo, the brightest of the group was about to reply when an announcement came over the speakers.

It was Principal Yen Sid. "Attention students, all must attend today's assembly at third period. We shall discuss the current academic situation at the school. If any students are caught outside the auditorium, swift retribution will be taken," he said. "That is all," was the last thing he said and the speakers cut off with a click. "Okay, um, let's continue," Prof. Sazh said and continued the lesson.

When class was over, Zack, Luneth and Isa headed to their next class. On the way there, Zack had to go to the restroom. "I'll catch up with you guys later, 'kay?" Zack said. "Okay, see ya at lunch," Luneth said as he and Isa walked off to class. Zack turned around and much to his dismay, he bumped into Braig and a few of his cohorts.

Zack looked at him and Braig said to him, "Zack Fair." "B-Braig, how ya doing?" Zack said, inching away from him. "First victim of the new season, buddy. It's a big honor," Braig said. "Honor? What honor," Zack said, knowing that the worse was going to happen. He attempted to run but Braig's two cohorts grabbed his arms and dragged him out of the school.

* * *

_In the gymnasium with Yuffie, Isa and Luneth…_

The two stumbled onto a cheerleading practice. The coach, Jihl Nabaat (wearing a uniform similar to the school's preppy attire), began yelling at them. Larxene and the others were surprisingly afraid of the woman and what she said to them was justification for it. Pulling out a bullhorn, Coach Jihl yelled angrily, "You sloppy, freak show babies! You think this cheer is hard? I'm passing a gallstone as we speak! That's hard!"

"Okay…is class canceled for today?" Luneth asked aloud. Yuffie looked around and saw a large sign that said, "Class canceled due to cheer practice. Will meet again tomorrow." Luneth and the others shrugged their shoulders and headed back to the locker rooms to change.

* * *

_Outside behind the school…_

Braig and his cohorts went to the back of the school to torment their first victim, Zack Fair. "Welcome to 'Cooking with Braig'," Braig said as if he was on a television show. "First what you want to put your dead meat in a nice, thick batter," he continued as his cohorts led Zack to a mud hole. "Stop it! Hey, stop!" Zack yelled, resisting.

"Hold it! Stop!" a group of kids yelled. The boys saw that it was the Journalism club and they were about to take a picture of what was happening. "Okay, we're all set," the club said to Braig and his group. The three bullies struck a pose and Zack yelled, "Gah!" After taking the picture, the boys threw poor Zack into the mud hole.

The next thing Braig wanted them to do was to coat Zack with sawdust. They found a container with it and Braig said, carrying the container, "Next, you want to coat your meat with some breadcrumbs." The cohorts kept Zack in place as Braig spilt the sawdust over Zack, coating the teen. "Perfect," Braig said and led them to his next objective.

The last thing Braig wanted the archers to do was to throw Zack in a dumpster. "Now, since that's over, our little bird is ready to go into the oven," Braig said, opening a dumpster. Zack saw that the dumpster was filled with garbage and sludge. "Aah, ew gross!" Zack yelled. "Hope you like lasagna, kiddo," Braig said and his two minions threw Zack into the dumpster.

* * *

_During third period…_

The entire school, minus the rebels and Zack, were awaiting for Principal Yen Sid to arrive in the auditorium. Noticing that Zack wasn't there, Firion asked, "Hey, where's Zack?" "I dunno. I though it was Lea's turn to watch him," Luneth said, looking around. "Hey, I'm not his keeper," Lea said. "Yeah, but he was supposed to be in swimming class, right?" Luneth asked.

As the teens were chatting away, Prof. Xehanort, like all the other teachers, sat on stage in folding chairs. Since he was the only one who could calm a crowd down with little effort, Prof. Xehanort was always chosen to settle students down before Principal Yen Sid spoke. Standing up as Yen Sid had arrived, Prof. Xehanort grabbed a microphone and said, "Settle down. Settle down." None of the students heard him.

There is a certain trait in Xehanort's family that enables them to settle crowds down. His father, Xehanort O'Sullivan II, had an interesting tactic that he used constantly when he was a professor at Radiant Garden University. He would use a single word that meant "Quiet" in a loud, booming, and somewhat ominous voice. Xehanort III had inherited that and used it only in certain circumstances. This was one of them.

After waiting a few moments for the students to settle down, Prof. Xehanort yelled in a booming voice, "Cease!" The volume of the yell cause a massive feedback, hurting the students ears and effectively quieting them down. "Ow," Lea and his friends said, holding their ears. "Now, without further ado, let's welcome our Principal, Dr. Yen Sid," Prof. Xehanort said in a much quieter tone. With that, the students cheered, welcoming Dr. Yen Sid.

* * *

_At lunch during fourth period…_

Lea and the others finally found Zack, who had to take a shower and change into a set of spare clothes Firion always had with him (he was surprisingly able to fit them). Telling his tale of what happened to him that morning, Firion was quite visibly upset. "Why do you guys let the bullies torment you?" he asked. "Well, they usually don't target us or anyone that's connected to us," Luneth said, doing homework in line. "But what they did to Zack was bold. I vow revenge!" Ven yelled, causing some of the kids in line to look at him as if he was crazy (most thought Vanitas came out again).

"Thinking about that, I heard that the bullies are holding a contest to see who is the greatest bully before this year is out," Isa said, who stood in front of Yuffie in line. "Oh, I wouldn't be surprise if Marluxia and Larxene is in the running," Yuffie said, texting Garnet and Zidane about what happened to Zack. "Who's Marluxia? Is that a girl or something with that name?" Firion asked,

The group looked at him in shock and fear. "No…He is not a girl with that name," Zack said in a low voice, clearly in fear. "The last time a person thought he was a girl…they ended up dead at under the bridge near the Outer Gardens," Luneth said, looking away. "Well, that's just the rumor anyway," Isa added. "I heard that his family is a part of the Mafia, especially with the last name of Acerbi," Ven said, knowing who the Acerbi's were.

"He's one of the most dangerous bullies. If you don't do what he says, people from his 'family' will show up at your house, demanding payment," Yuffie said, clutching her purse. "Why is he demanding payment?" Firion asked. "I'll tell ya. You see, his family was one of the richest families in all of Radiant Garden. When he was nine, his father died and he inherited everything that he owned. But, two years ago, he lost it all in the American Stock Market," Ven explained. "So, he's using everyone here to regain it back," Firion asked.

"Bingo, Rosebud," Lea said, making fun of Firion's country (and a bit of his personality). "See, he calls all his victims 'investors'," Zack explained. "And he's looking to make a killing in the Stock Market," Isa added. "Got it memorized?" Lea asked Firion. "I guess so," Firion replied.

Much to everyone's dismay, Marluxia (wearing an all black business suit, white shirt and red tie; like any high ranking person in the Mafia would) entered the lunchroom with three of his 'family members'. Holding his silver briefcase with his I-pad, laptop, and dubious mob info, he yelled, "M-M-M-M-M-M-Marching call!" That scared the crap out of anyone in the yell radius. The Journalism club quickly took a picture of him as he looked at his I-pad and said, "Hmm, 11:15: 'Meeting with Ventus Pellegrino'."

He motioned for his "family" to search the lunchroom for Ven. As they looked around, Marluxia did the same. Much to Ven and friends horror, he found him hiding behind Firion. "Ah, Ventus," Marluxia said with an evil smile. "Uh, hi Marluxia," Ven said, thinking "Please don't kill me". "I see that you need 'help' with managing your portfolio," Marluxia said, taking the pouch of munny from him.

"Hey, that's mine!" Ven yelled. "Yep and you have the munny pouch filled to the top. Let me 'hold this for a while' and I'll set you up with a 'nice, mutual loan'," Marluxia said, taking out the munny from the pouch and counting it. "What's going on here?" Aerith Gainsborough, a lunch monitor and part time worker of the school (and the one who caught Terra speaking Spanish), asked. "He's taking Ven's lunch…!" Firion yelled and Marluxia glaring at him.

"Uh, lunch money," Firion added, braving the fear of being killed. "Is this true, Marluxia?" Aerith asked Marluxia. Lying greatly, Marluxia said, "No, ma'am. I'm just 'spreading investment wisdom' to the masses." Firion rolled his eyes and Marluxia continued to flatter Aerith. "Speaking of which, how did your investment in Nibelheim Industries go?" Marluxia asked her. "It was the best money I've ever spent. I sold the stock and got 25,000 munny back," Aerith told him.

"By the way, what is your position on Departure Springs' stock?" Aerith asked Marluxia. Marluxia checked his I-pad and said, "Hmm, it looks like it's moving today. I say 'buy'." "Thank you," Aerith said, forgetting that Ven's lunch money was stolen. When she left, Marluxia turned to the group, holding the pouch of munny and said, "Don't miss me." He left and as he and his 'family' left, he yelled, pushing pass several students, "Excuse me!" Needless to say, that event pissed off the group and they ate in angered silence.

* * *

_Hmm, which bully will win the honor of Greatest Bully of 2010. Stay tuned and __review please._

_Side notes:_

_*Pelletier: (pronounced PEL-LEY-T-AE) French last name meaning "A furrier or a skinner"_

_**Acerbi: (pronounced A-CHER-BEE) Italian last name meaning "Cruel"_

_***Noches: Spanish for "Night"_

_****Ignis: Latin for "Fire"_


	16. Bully Troubles, pt II

_Disclaimer: Own nothing…_

* * *

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Bully Troubles, pt. II

The next day, Braig readied himself for the next victim. Writing something on his shirt in the locker room, he wrote down a name that most people wouldn't think of putting down. He put on the shirt and his jacket and did the same thing that he did the day before. In the hallways, a crowd of students larger than before, crowded around him to see who his next victim was. They gasped when they saw it. The words on the shirt was "Foreign kid from Fynn."

_In the student boys' locker room…_

Firion, Isa, and Luneth had changed their clothes and readied themselves for class. "Okay, I'll see you guys in the gym," Luneth said, running out. Isa did the same, leaving Firion in the locker room alone. When he was fully ready, he walked towards the door. Surprisingly enough, he was stopped by Braig and four of the members of the archery team. "Hello, foreign kid!" Braig said, the four archers grabbing Firion.

In the gym, Isa and Luneth waited for Firion to show up. After fifteen minutes of him not being there, they began to get a bit worried. When Yuffie had arrived and asked, "Where's Rosebud?", the two couldn't find an answer. "Okay, I'll tell the teacher what's going on. You two should go and find him," Yuffie said.

Yuffie did just that and Isa and Luneth looked in the locker room for Firion. Sadly, they couldn't find him. "Firion!" Isa yelled. "Hey, Wild Rose kid!" Luneth yelled. No one replied in the locker room. So, the boys quickly changed back into their preppy clothes and left the locker room to find him.

_

* * *

Meanwhile…_

For Yuffie, after telling the P.E. instructor, what happened, rushed into the girl's locker room. What she saw inside shocked her. She saw Larxene and several of the cheerleaders, playing with her phone. The girls were looking at her text messages and reading them aloud. "Oh, Dad's getting a divorce today, Zidane. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Kisaragi girl was going with Zidane," Larxene said, reading and…deleting messages off of Yuffie's phone.

"What are you doing? That's mine!" Yuffie screamed. She ran over to the cheerleaders to grab her phone and the girls began tossing the phone to each other. "Over here, loser," one of the girls taunted. As the girls grabbed the phone, each cheerleader began deleting messages off the phone.

When the phone was caught by Larxene, she read on of Yuffie's more personal texts. "I saw Ma and Dad fight today. I don't know what to do, Ven. I want to do something, but I can't," Larxene said in a dramatic voice. Angered, Yuffie yelled, "Give it back, Larxene!" Larxene scoffed and said, "Oh, the little loser wants her phone back. Well then, come and get it!"

She threw the phone onto the ground and just before Yuffie could get it, Larxene stomped her foot onto the ground, breaking it. "No!" Yuffie screamed. Yuffie began crying and Larxene made it worse by saying, "Oops, did I break it? Oh well, it's not like you can't get a new one." With that, Larxene and the other cheerleaders left the locker room, laughing the whole time.

_

* * *

During Fourth Period…_

Ven and Lea received word that Firion went missing. So, the two decided to call in the Calvary. Lea began calling Garnet and Vivi, who in turn called Zidane and Yuna. Zidane ended up calling members of the soccer team and the members of the soccer team enlisted Coach Jecht. Ven called Zack, who called members of the basketball team and who ended up calling Coach Auron to help.

At lunch, Garnet, Vivi, Zidane, Zack, Lea and Ven had gathered outside of the lunchroom west doors. When the group saw an exhausted Luneth and Isa, they got very worried. "You couldn't find Firion?" Zack asked. "Nope. I think one of the bullies got to him," Luneth said.

Lea then received a text from one of the members of the soccer team. "Oh, Coach Jecht wants to meet us in Principal Yen Sid's office," Lea said, reading the text. "Why? We didn't do anything wrong," Ven said. "Well, we should still meet with him if we want to find Firion," Garnet said, being the voice of reason.

_

* * *

In Principal Yen Sid's office…_

Ven's group met with Coach Auron, Coach Jecht, Prof. Xehanort, Prof. Zexion, Prof. Sazh, the soccer team and the basketball team. Principal Yen Sid, sitting at his desk, said to the groups, "No one has found our foreign exchange student, Firion El?" "Nope, haven't seen 'im," Coach Jecht said. "I'm afraid that I haven't seen him either," Coach Auron said to him.

"If we do not find him safe, this will be a travesty of international proportions," Principal Yen Sid told the groups. "Well, we need to expand our search," Prof. Zexion said to everyone. "You are correct. The basketball team shall search the football field and bleachers. The soccer team shall check the soccer field, gymnasium and locker rooms. We instructors shall check every office, classroom and stairwell. Ventus, you and your friends have my permission to use the rest of the school day to find Firion El," Principal Yen Sid said to the groups. That said, the groups left to find Firion before anything bad happened to him.

_

* * *

With Ven, Isa, and Vivi…_

The three boys were in the second floor halls, looking for Firion. "Hey, Firion! Where are you buddy?" Ven yelled. The three boys suddenly stopped when they saw Yuffie crying, holding her now broken cell phone. They ran up to her and Vivi asked, "Yuffie, what happened?"

Choked up, Yuffie told him, "Larxene, she…she and the other cheerleaders broke my cell phone." Ven, angered, yelled, "Revenge!" He then bolted off into the direction of the southern exit doors, making the group worried about him (they could swear that Vanitas came out again). After Ven had left, Vivi told Yuffie that they enlisted the help of the instructors, the soccer team, and the basketball team.

"Principal Yen Sid wants us to find him before he gets hurt. He said that Firion getting hurt would cause a international travesty," Isa explained. "Oh, but how can we find him when we have no clues," Yuffie asked, sniffling. A chorus of loud screams came from the gymnasium and the three ran to see what was going on.

_

* * *

In the gym…_

Lea, Zack, Garnet, Zidane, Luneth and (just entering the gym) Ven stared with the soccer team at a somewhat glorious sight. Braig and the whole archery team was pinned onto the walls with wedgies covering their eyes. They were pinned onto the walls with arrows, nails, knives (don't ask) and the random axe or two. Each of the archers had bruises and bumps on them, making the large group think that a beast came in and attacked them. When the group noticed Ven, they all looked at him suspiciously.

Ven, innocent, told them, "I didn't do it!" "Really, then why is the whole archery team pinned up like that?" Lea asked. "I dunno. I'm serious. It wasn't me. I just got here," Ven said.

Coaches Jecht and Auron came into the gym with the basketball team. Coach Jecht, not noticing the archery team, said, "We heard a scream…! Whoa…No way." The new group stared at the archers then glared at Ven. "I'm serious! I didn't do it! I just got here," Ven said, declaring his innocence again.

The last group to have arrived was Prof. Zexion, Prof. Xehanort, Isa, Vivi and Yuffie. When they saw the archers, they were shocked. "Whoa, I didn't know Ven could do that," Vivi mumbled. Ven sighed, saying, "For the last time, I didn't do this! I just got here!"

Prof. Xehanort, noticing something odd, walked over to the archers. He spotted a flag that was blue, gold and white with a rose in the flag's center. "He couldn't have done this…Could he?" Xehanort asked. Braig, waking up, said, "If you're talking about the foreign kid, then yeah. He kicked the crap out of us!"

A sound of a door slamming caused the crowd to look over in the direction of the boys' locker room. They saw Firion come out with his hair wet. When he noticed everyone staring at him, he said, "Oh, hey guys." "Uh, hey. Um, Firion, did you do this?" Ven asked. Firion nodded his head and told the guys what happened.

_

* * *

Flashback…_

_When Braig and the four archers caught Firion, they dragged him to the gym, kicking and screaming. Once inside the gym, Braig said, "Alright, kiddo, this is your official welcome to Radiant Garden." He was about to pummel Firion, when Firion did something unexpected. Being true to his Fynn nickname of being the "Hot-Blooded Rebel" (as he was against the rule of the jocks at his former school), Firion used his legs to grab Braig by the throat. He then lifted him up and tossed him towards a wall. _

_Braig hit the wall with such force that there was a loud "Bam!". The archers saw this and two of them went to Braig's aid. Firion then kicked the archer holding his left arm in the face and threw the other to the ground. "OMG, he's a beast! I tell ya! A beast!," the archer who was kicked in the face yelled. _

_The other archers that was beaten up by Firion ran over to Braig and the group tried to escape. "Can't run!" Firion yelled and threw several knives and nails at Braig, pinning him to the wall. He then found the archers' equipment and began firing several arrows at the archers. The arrows pinned the archers to the wall and they screamed. _

_The others in the archery team heard the screams and entered the gym. When they saw Firion, they attacked. 'Alright, have it your way then,' Firion thought and began firing at the archery team. Some were pinned at ground level. Others were pinned onto the ceiling. When he was out of arrows, he used the "next best thing": his trusty axe that he had brought from home (no one knows how it passed inspection)._

_When the last two of the archers attacked him, Firion kicked one of them and threw the axe. The force of the throw caused the archer to fly towards the basketball rim. He was then pinned onto it and the last of the archers attempted to knock Firion unconscious with a swift right hook. Firion dodged and kicked the archer in the stomach. He quickly threw another axe at him (seriously, how did he pass inspection?) and pinned the archer onto the other basketball rim. Firion, in a feeling of patriotism, took his flag from his home country of Fynn and hung it over Braig. Saluting the flag, he yelled at the archers, "Next time, you'll think twice before messin' with me!" He then headed into the locker room to take a shower._

_End of Flashback…_

* * *

When the others heard his story, Prof. Xehanort nervously said, "Firion, I know you meant well, but we do not pin others to walls with knives, arrows and axes." "Yeah, but it seems like what you're doing now isn't helpful either," Firion pouted. Ven and friends were worried that Firion was going to be sent back home for defending himself when Coach Jecht told Xehanort, "But what the boy did was amazing. I've never seen anyone man enough to do that!"

"Yeah, I see this more as bad karma for all the students who've been tormented by the archers," Prof. Zexion said, looking amazed. "I'm not gonna press charges, are you Auron?" Coach Jecht asked Auron. "No, I don't see why not," Coach Auron said, looking at the archery team. "Aw, Coach! Why not?" Braig yelled.

"I did tell you all that if you all get bigheaded, I'm not going to defend you for any action you take. Nor am I going defend you all if a student retaliates," Coach Auron said, reprimanding the team. "So, Xehanort, no one's gonna press charges. I'd say, let the kid go," Coach Jecht said. Prof. Xehanort sighed and left, the majority of the crowd following him.

Before Ven and his friends could leave, however, the Journalism club appeared with cameras and notebooks at the ready. "Oh, Ven, you pummeled the Archery Team for us? Thanks," the club's head said. "No, I didn't do it. Firion did," Ven said. The club then look at Firion as if he was a god among insects.

"Why are you all staring at me like that? I just defended myself, that's all," Firion replied, not wanting to take pictures. The Journalism club took the pictures of the group anyway. When they were done, the club left, leaving Ven and the others in the gym with the, still pinned to the wall, archery team. "Okay, let's go," Ven said, the group leaving.

Coach Auron smirked and said, "I guess they'll be guardians to the outcasts now." "Hey, aren't you gonna help us out here?" Braig yelled at Auron. "No, I see that this is perfect punishment for you all. So, you all will stay like that for the rest of the day," Coach Auron said and left the gym.

Later that day, the headline in the school's newspaper was "The Wild Rose Rebel Slays the Freeshooter." That effectively kicked Braig out of the running of being the Greatest Bully of 2010. When Marluxia and Larxene saw this, the two decided to step up their game.

_

* * *

Hmm, since Braig's out, who should win the title Greatest Bully of 2010? Stay tuned, oh and review._

_-miano53_


	17. Of Movie Nights and Vengeance

_Sorry for the long wait. I finally got all my required books for school and homework's started to block me from writing. I'm also trying to finish Kingdom Hearts II for the fourth time and that got in the way for story writing as well. Now without further ado, here's the next chapter._

_P.S: For "Vanitas", I'll start using bold and Italics to indicate when "he" wants to come out of Ven._

_-miano53_

* * *

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

* * *

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Of Movie Nights and Vengeance

The next Saturday afternoon (December 4), Ven (after dressing warmly and leaving home) went over to Zack's house for a particular meeting with his friends. When he had arrived, he, holding a bag filled with chips, pop, peanut butter crackers and candy, knocked on the door. After a few moments of knocking, Ven began to impatiently bang on the door. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" Ven could hear Zack yell.

He opened the door and saw Ven with a bag of junk food. "Hey Ven," Zack said, taking the bag. "Well, I told you to bring in food, not junk food," Zack said, a bit disappointed with the things Ven brought. "Ven's here!" Ven heard Yuffie's voice from the living room. Yuffie exited the living room and screamed, "Ven!"

She hugged him and Ven said, "Hey, Yuf! Where's the others?" "Here and present," Lea yelled from the kitchen. The three entered the kitchen and saw Lea and Zack's cousin, Angeal, eating large amounts of popcorn. "Okay, I see you, but where's the others," Ven asked.

"They're coming. Isa said that he's bringing the tacos and nachos. Vivi said that he's bringing the donuts and cheesecake. Zidane and Garnet are bringing the movies. Firion's bringing the hot wings and subs. Luneth supposed to bring fish and chips. Yuffie brought popcorn, but…" Zack said, pointing at Lea and Angeal who'd had eaten all the popcorn.

"What? I was hungry," Lea said. Angeal, noticing that Terra and Aqua were nowhere to be found, asked, "So, where's the other Pellegrino's?" "Oh, Terra's got another paper to write. So, he can't make it. Aqua's…well, Aqua's at home, saying that she still hasn't forgotten what you did to her in high school," Ven explained. "What? She still hasn't gotten over that?" Angeal asked.

"Angeal…what did you do to Aqua," Zack asked him. Reminiscing, Angeal said, "Well, she's mad that I spilt that milkshake on her dress one time in tenth grade. Since she was fuming, I couldn't help but laugh at her 'cause she looked so stupid. Ever since then, she vowed revenge." 'Yeah and she said you did some other stuff to her too,' Ven thought.

A loud banging sound came from the door and Yuffie answered the door. "Hey, Rebel," she said. "Hey, Yuffie," Firion said, coming into the house with a large bucket of wings and a large bag of subs. Zack quickly ran over to get the bucket while Firion carried the bag into the kitchen. When Lea noticed the food, his stomach growled loudly and he said, "Can I eat, Angeal? Please?" "Hmm...No, not yet," Angeal said, gathering paper plates for the teens.

There was another knock at the door and Ven opened it this time. He saw Isa with what he promised to bring, Vivi and what he brought and someone else. "Who are you?" Ven asked. "Oh, you guys don't mind if I bring a friend?" Vivi asked entering the house. "No, but who is she?" Isa asked, following him and going into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Vivi announced, "Guys, this is my friend Eiko Carol. Eiko, these are my friends." "Hi guys," Eiko said, waving. "Hello. 'Sup. Hi," were some of the replies from the others. Just before the group could ask any questions, Luneth, Zidane and Garnet had entered. "Hey, guys!" Zidane yelled happily.

"You got the movies?" Zack asked, taking the food from Luneth. "Yup. We got the 'Godfather Trilogy' so it can help us deal with Marluxia. And we got this chick flick that Garnet picked out called, 'Mean Girls'. Garnet claims that it'll help us deal with Larxene, but I think she picked just so I can see a chick flick," Zidane replied. "It's not a 'Chick Flick' as you put it. It's about a group of kids like that goes against the rule of the jocks," Garnet replied, defending her choice. "Okay, since everyone's here, let's get started with our first official meeting," Zack said, taking some of the food into the living room.

Zack's living room (with a white and black color scheme) had a large, flat screen that was a part of a large entertainment system Angeal had brought (mostly for watching football, basketball and soccer). Two large black, leather couches were also in the living room. One couch directly faced the TV, while the other was turned to face the living room windows. A black steel coffee table was stationed in the middle of the room. A door that led into the kitchen was near the entertainment system.

When everyone was sitting on the couch, Zack began the meeting. Pulling out a dry erase board, he said, "Okay, as the leader of our new group, we shall think of a group name. I was thinking 'The Avengers'." "Hey, who put you in charge, 'Commander in Chump'?" Lea yelled. "Yeah, Zack, no one's voted on who's gonna be our team's leader!" Yuffie yelled.

"Okay, okay! By a show of hands, who wants to run to be team leader," Zack asked. Zack, Lea, Yuffie and Ven raised their hands. "Oh, this is gonna be hard," Zack mumbled. "Speeches! Speeches!" Vivi and Eiko began chanting. "Yeah, if you guys are running to be our president, you should at least make a speech," Luneth said, taking a plate of hot wings.

"Okay, I'll go first," Yuffie said. Zack sat down and Yuffie began her speech. "Hello, my friends. Vote for me and you'll get a free cookie on me," Yuffie said. "Hey, you can't even cook!" Lea yelled. "No back talk from the competition!" Isa yelled, being the moderator. He then turned to Yuffie and said, "Please continue." "Oh, I'm done. If you guys vote for me, I'll give you a cookie," Yuffie said and sat down.

It was then Lea's turn. "Hey, what's up? Vote for me and I'll promise to steal from the rich and give to the needy!" Lea said proudly. "Hey, you can't do that! You're not Robin Hood!" Ven yelled. "No commentary, even if it's true, from the competition!" Isa yelled at Ven. "But he can't…" Ven whined. "Zip it, Ven," Isa yelled. Lea sat down and Ven got up to speak.

He got up, smiled and said (pretty sure Vanitas came out), "My friends, colleagues and future business partners, if you vote for me, we'll give the bullies…**_Death! Painful fiery death!_** You wonder, 'how do we do it'…? **_Death!_** And so, in conclusion, vote for me and we'll give the bullies '**_Death! Painful fiery death_**!' Thank you very much!" He then sat down, causing his friends to stare at him in fear. "Um, okay. Zack, your turn," Isa said, moving away from Ven.

After that scare, Zack stood up for his speech. Smiling, he said, "Who wants to rid the school of the bullies?" "Me! Me, me! Me!" everyone said minus Ven, Lea, Isa and Yuffie. "Who wants to keep our school safe from the bullies' tyranny?" Zack yelled. "Yeah!" everyone, except the moderator and competitors, yelled. "So, vote for me and I'll let this group make sure that happens!" Zack yelled.

He then sat down and Isa got up to say, "Alright, a show of hands, who wants Yuffie to be our president?" No one raised their hands. "Hey, I said I was gonna make cookies," Yuffie whined. Eiko, wanting cookies, raised her hand and said, "I want a cookie." "Well, your vote doesn't count, so you don't get one," Isa said rather rudely.

Eiko mumbled curses under her breath and Isa continued with the voting process, saying, "Okay, who wants Lea to be our president?" No one except Lea raised their hands. "Hey! I said I was gonna give you guys money from the rich!" Lea yelled. "You said you were gonna 'steal' from the rich," Luneth said. Lea sat back onto the couch with a huff and Isa continued.

"Okay, who wants Ven to be our president?" Isa asked. Luneth raised his hand meekly and Ven yelled, "Aw! I thought you guys would have my back!" "Well, you did say that you were gonna give the bullies 'Death! Painful, fiery death!'" Isa said. "Yeah, you scared us there, buddy," Zidane said, patting Ven on the back. "**_Grr_**," Ven growled, causing for everyone to get scared again.

"Ven, did you have your peanut butter today?" Zack asked. "_**No**_," Ven growled, Vanitas out in full force. "Go eat some, Ven, before you go any crazier," Firion sighed. "**_Crazy? Who said I was going crazy?_**" Ven/Vanitas asked, getting a bit insane. "You just did. Now here," Yuffie said, taking one of Ven's peanut butter crackers and shoving it into his mouth.

"Okay…Who wants Zack to be our president?" Isa asked. Zidane, Garnet, Zack, Vivi, Firion and Isa all raised their hands, automatically making Zack president. "Yes!" Zack cheered. He then got up and began dancing around, making the moment quite awkward. Zack then stopped, looked around and said, "Okay, as president, my first act will be deciding our new group's name. I was thinking 'The Avengers'."

"We'll be named after a group of comic book heroes?" Isa asked, sitting on the floor. "Thanks, but no thanks," Lea said. "That'll make us seem like a bunch of nerds," Zidane said. "But, I'm a nerd," Vivi whined. "I wasn't talking about you, Vivi," Zidane said to him.

"Okay, since you all are against it, what should we name the group?" Zack asked. Taking out a dry erase marker, he readied himself for the barrage of suggestions. "I say we should name the team 'Team Awesome'," Vivi said while Zack wrote on the board. "Oh that is so lame! I vote for 'Team Dynamite'!" Lea yelled. "Lame! I vote for 'Team Super Cool'!" Ven yelled.

"Oh, you're so lame, Ven. I vote for the 'Nerd Defenders'," Zidane said, making Vivi angry. "Hey! I hate that name!" Vivi yelled. "We should be name 'Knights Scholastica'," Garnet said. "'Scholastica'?" everyone asked. "Well, I like it," Zack said, writing the name on the board and erasing the others.

"Okay, raise your hands if you want 'Nerd Defenders' to be our group name?" Zack asked. Luneth, Zidane and Lea raised their hands. Counting the hands and placing the number on the board, Zack asked, "Okay, who wants 'Knights Scholastica' to be our name?" Everyone else raised their hands. "Alright, 'Knights Scholastica' it is then," Zack replied happily. After that long, drawn out political process, the group began to watch the movies.

* * *

_That Monday..._

Ven and his friends arrived at school and much to everyone's surprise, Zack had business cards ready for them. Standing outside the school, the group asked Zack, "What's that?" "Oh, these are our business cards to be passed out today," Zack replied. "Why?" Ven asked. "Well, if we want to be known as the group who'll defend the ner...oh, I mean, 'people like Vivi', we need to announce ourselves. Not out in the open but in secret," Zack explained. "Oh," the group said altogether.

"Okay, everyone will get about 50 of these. Just pass them out to anyone that looks like they're being traumatized by the bullies, such as the Anime Club, the Science Club, the Robotics team, the Chess club, etc.," Zack explained, passing out the cards. When Ven received his, he noticed that there was a Coat of Arms on it with the Initial's "KS" on it. On the back of the card, it had Zack's phone number and the name of the new club. After getting the cards, the school bell rung and the group went to their first class.

* * *

_1st case: Vengeance on Marluxia for taking Yuna's lunch money and lunch. 12:30 pm. Tuesday..._

The next day, after the group had passed out the business cards, much to everyone's surprises, only a few people threw the cards away. How they knew was the arrival of their first case at lunch. Sitting at their table and eating, Yuna, one of the girls in the school's choir, came to the table with tears in her eyes. Ven, Luneth, Zack and Lea looked at her and Zack asked, "What's wrong?" Yuna looked at him and said, "I haven't eaten all day and Marluxia just took my lunch money and one of his lackeys took my backup lunch."

Being brave (but mostly silly), Lea got up and said, "Never fear, the KS team is here." Isa, annoyed, said to him, "You know how lame that just sounded, right?" Lea, in embarrassment, sat down and mumbled, "Well, I thought it sounded cool." Turning back to Yuna, Ven asked, "Where's Marluxia now?" "I don't know. He said something about checking his profits for today," Yuna replied.

The boys, minus Vivi and Zidane (who was in the library with Garnet at the time), thought about the most heinous way to torture Marluxia. Yuffie, offering some of her lunch to Yuna, said, "If you guys are planning vengeance, just don't do anything that'll get us kicked out." "We won't, will we Firion," Isa said, glaring at Firion accusingly. "What? I won't do what I did last week," Firion replied honestly.

"Yuna, we'll get vengeance for you," Zack said bravely. "Thank you," Yuna said, stuffing a large amount of French Fries into her mouth. "So, how are we gonna do it?" Ven said, evil thoughts coming into his head. "Ven, we're not gonna kill Marluxia," Zack said, crushing Ven's (or was it "Vanitas's?") dream of seeing Marluxia hanging from a flagpole with a noose tied around his neck. "Aw, _**why not**_?" Ven/Vanitas yelled. "Because we're not trying to get arrested or killed by the Acerbi family," Isa said harshly (due to his annoyance of Ven changing personalities).

Ven/Vanitas sat back in his seat with a huff and Yuna stopped eating and began staring at him. "Oh, so you're Ventus," she said. "**_Yeah, what do you want_**?" Ven/Vanitas said rather harshly. "Ven! Oh just excuse our friend. He's just mad that his dad told him to cut back on his peanut butter addiction," Zack said, explaining to Yuna about Ven.

"_**It's not an addiction!**_" Ven/Vanitas yelled. "Yes it is," Isa said, eating a corn dog. "_**No, it's not!**_" Ven/Vanitas yelled. "Yes it is. You have proven to everyone time and time again that you can't last more than two hours without going crazy over peanut butter," Isa said, not pulling any punches. "I for one believe that you have no self-control over that stupid peanut butter addiction."

Everyone, except Yuna, gasped when Isa said that. Ven/Vanitas, nearly going into a rage, said angrily, "**_Peanut butter isn't stupid!_**" "Peanut butter isn't stupid, but the addiction to it is. You treat the stuff as if it's crack cocaine. Seriously Ven, you're nothing but a pathetic addict," Isa said, still being quite harsh.

Everyone gasped again (Yuna was included in this gasping session) and Ven stood up. Everyone thought, 'OMG, Isa's gonna get killed!' Somewhat back to his normal self, Ven said, "I may be an addict, Isa, but at least I'm not a heartless jerk like you!" He then left the table, storming off to God-knows-where. Zack and the others looked at Isa and Zack said, "Way to go, Isa."

"What, it's not like no one else thought about that," Isa said, looking around. "Well, you could've been a bit nicer," Luneth said. "Yeah, that was pretty harsh," Firion agreed. "So? I don't see why we shouldn't be harsh with him when it comes to that stupid peanut butter addiction," Isa said, still being mean. "Isa, you could've been a bit nicer. You know why Ven's so obsessed with that. So, next time you see him, say sorry," Zack said.

* * *

After that fight, the remaining boys, minus Vivi, decided on how to torture Marluxia. One idea was to steal his briefcase. Zack decided that doing that will get them killed. Another idea was to steal back the money Marluxia stole for that day. That, according to Lea, would get each of them killed by Marluxia's family. So, the last idea was to torment him with the thing he hates the mosts: the theme song to Barney.

So, taking a radio and connecting it to a bullhorn, the boys went to the room that was behind Marluxia's locker (which was located on the fourth floor). Lea looked inside to check if the room was empty and it indeed was. So, Zack, Firion, Luneth, Lea and Isa entered the room and began connecting their equipment. Putting the bullhorn to the wall, the boys waited for Lea's signal (who stood in the middle of the doorway). Much to their luck, Marluxia had arrived to his locker.

Lea, putting up a thumbs up, signaled for the boys to get ready. Marluxia, who didn't notice Lea standing in the doorway, opened his locker to get his English books. Lea instantly signaled for the boys to turn on the radio by waving his arm once. So, when Marluxia opened his locker, he heard, "I love you. You love me. We're a happy family."

Marluxia, scared, slammed his locker closed. When he did that, Lea motioned his arm twice for the boys to turn off the radio. They did and Marluxia meekly opened his locker. The boys, under Lea's instruction, turned the radio on again and the music played again. "I love you. You love me," the locker "sung". Marluxia closed his locker again and Lea motioned for the boys to turn the radio off. Marluxia opened the locker and the music played again.

"I love you. You love me. We're a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?" the locker "sung" again. As the locker "sang", Marluxia began looking through his locker to find the source of the music. "Where is that accursed music coming from?" Marluxia asked in fear, looking through the locker in vain. After several fear filled moments, Marluxia slammed his locker shut and ran off, screaming, "He's gonna eat me!"

The boys, after hearing Marluxia scream that, began laughing uproariously. "Oh my God! Marluxia's such a wimp! Ha, ha, ha!" Lea laughed, crying. "Zack, how did you know he's petrified of the 'Barney Theme'?" Luneth asked. Remembering what happened when he was little, Zack said, "Oh, I'll tell you later. Right now, we gotta get out of here." With that, the boys rushed out of the room with the sound equipment in hand.

* * *

_Well, I would say "Poor Marluxia", but he's a bully, so I won't say it. Now R&R, please._


	18. Revenge of the Nerds, pt I

_Disclaimer: Own nada…well, except for Bob and the kitty cat._

_

* * *

Life in Radiant Garden_

Revenge of the Nerds, pt. I

The Wednesday morning (Dec. 7), after the Marluxia running away from his locker incident, Coach Jihl Nabaat noticed that the nerds of the school (who were mostly in the Choir, Anime Club, Science Club, Robotics Team, etc.) were suddenly more hopeful. In her office while writing in her journal, she wrote, "Today, I noticed that the nerds have been walking around more confidently. I have to nip that hope the nerds got in the bud. Nerds aren't supposed to have confidence in themselves. That makes our job as jocks a lot harder."

She stopped writing when there was a knock at the door. Coach Jihl looked up and said, "Come in. It's open." Braig and Marluxia had entered the room. "Sit down gentlemen," Coach Jihl said, looking sternly at the two. "Why did ya call us?" Braig asked. "Well, I've been hearing that you and Marluxia have been bested by nerds," Coach Jihl told them.

"As if. I didn't get 'bested' by nerds. It was that new kid from Fynn," Braig said. "A useless excuse, Braig," Coach Jihl said, sitting back in her office chair. Looking at Marluxia, she said, "And you've disgraced us jocks by running away screaming like a little girl from your locker yesterday."

"You don't understand, Coach Jihl! There was Barney music playing from my locker! Barney music, woman! Barney music!" Marluxia yelled. "So? Are you that afraid of a purple dinosaur?" Coach Jihl asked.

Marluxia said nothing as he was too embarrassed to explain why he was so afraid of Barney the Dinosaur. Standing up, Coach Jihl said, "Now gentlemen, since you two are out of the running for being 'Greatest Bully of 2010', I'm going to ask you to smell your armpits." Braig and Marluxia looked at her puzzled. "Smell them," Coach Jihl commanded. The two teen boys lifted their arms and smelled them. For Maluxia, he still smelled like his Axe body spray. For Braig, he smelled like wet dog and faint traces of Calvin Kline brand cologne (or in other terms "P-Funk").

"You smell that gentlemen? That is the smell of epic failure," Coach Jihl said, further puzzling Marluxia (as he still smelled nice). "So, now everything we jocks hope for rests on Larxene's shoulders. My hopes aren't that high as she's one of the stupidest teens I've ever taught…and that's saying something," Coach Jihl added. With that, the two boys were kicked out of her office.

_

* * *

In Dr. Yen Sid's office…._

Prof. Xehanort sat in his boss's office, waiting for a particular coach to show up. When they had arrived, the only thing that person said was (after looking at Xehanort's silver locks), "Hey Xehanort. You cut your hair? It looks awful." Xehanort sighed and said, "Hello, Jihl."

Coach Jihl sat down in a chair near Dr. Yen Sid's desk and said, "Why did ya call me here?" "Jihl, we are here to talk about how your cheerleading team has flunked math," Dr. Yen Sid said. "Yes, Jihl. I've checked the school's records and 95% of your 'Cheerios' has an 'F' in Math," Prof. Xehanort added. Angered, Coach Jihl got up and yelled, "Oh Xehanort, everyone knows about your devotion to that _dying _subject!"

"'Dying subject'? We're talking about Math, not some fad that your cheerleaders come up with every five seconds!" Xehanort yelled. "I would have to agree with Xehanort on this. Either your cheerleaders go to tutoring and pass Math by the end of the school year or face the Cheerleading Squad to be forever dissolved," Dr. Yen Sid said calmly. Coach Jihl, bewildered, said, "You're joking, right?"

"No, I am not. Either have your cheerleaders pass math or face the consequences," Dr. Yen Sid said. "Fine. Alright, fine," Coach Jihl said and walked out of the room. As she did, Prof. Xehanort and Dr. Yen Sid noticed that she began pushing the students out of her way (with extremely dramatic music playing as she did). "Not the children, Jihl!" Dr. Yen Sid yelled. Prof. Xehanort, satisfied, left the office with a smirk.

_

* * *

In the gym with Yuffie, Luneth and Isa…_

The three teens were busy climbing up the rock wall when they noticed Vivi running towards them. "Guys, we have another customer," Vivi said. "We're not charging them for our services of revenge, Vivi," Isa said, holding onto the security rope that kept Yuffie from falling. Luneth, who was standing next to Isa, saw that a rather lanky, but tall guy was standing next to Vivi. His blonde hair was in a mullet and wore his preppy clothes in the colors of dark blue and blue. Luneth also saw that the teen was holding a broken, blue guitar.

"Hey, you guys are the KS squad, right?" the boy asked. "Yeah, what of it?" Isa asked, holding onto the rope tightly. "Well, I was hoping that you guys can help me get revenge on Larxene," the boy asked. "Let me guess. You're in the school's rock band and Larxene heard you playing your guitar, right?" Luneth asked. "Wait…How did you know?" the boy asked.

"We've dealt with a case like that on yesterday," Yuffie said loudly, still climbing the rock wall. "So, why did she break your guitar? It looked like it used to be nice," Vivi asked. "She told me that if she ever caught me playing my guitar nonstop again, she was gonna do this to my legs," the boy said, lifting up his broken guitar. "Oh," the three boys said and Isa's grip on the rope loosened.

"Isa? What are you doing?" Yuffie screamed as she slipped a bit. Isa quickly tightened his grip on the rope and Yuffie continued her long climb to the top of the rock wall. "So, what's your name and what do you want us to do?" Luneth asked. "My name's Demyx and I just want Larxene to know that no one breaks my guitar and gets away with it. But, I'm just scared that she'll break my legs," the boy, Demyx replied.

"Okay, Demyx, meet us at the lunchroom at 12," Isa said to him. "Okay, but I don't have to do much in the revenge thing, right?" Demyx asked. "Well, you're the one who asked us to help you. So, you have to put your input on what you want us to do," Luneth explained. Demyx then agreed to meet the group in the lunchroom and left feeling hopeful.

_

* * *

Back in Coach Jihl's office…_

Coach Jihl sat in her chair, writing in her journal again. This time, she wrote, "Xehanort has now started a controversy of _international_ proportions. He expects me to take orders from him! Him? Out of all people, him? He wants my precious Cheerios to pass that stupid math course. Everyone knows that trigonometry isn't used in daily life, so why bother?"

She stopped writing when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in," Coach Jihl said. The door opened and Larxene had entered the room. "Did you call me, Coach?" she asked. "Yep. Sit down," Coach Jihl said.

Sitting back in her chair, Coach Jihl told Larxene, "You've heard how Marluxia and Braig have epically failed us in keeping our rule over the nerds absolute, right?" "Yeah, it's all over the school. Everyone's saying that Marluxia screamed like a little girl when Barney music started playing from his locker," Larxene replied. "Yeah, well, now it's up to you to keep our rule absolute. I don't care what you do, just instill fear into those nerds hearts," Coach Jihl said to her.

"So, I can kill a nerd?" Larxene asked. "No, you can't kill a nerd, you twit! You can scar-them-for-life, but no killing or anything that would send you to jail. Because I'm not bailing you out again if you do," Coach Jihl yelled. "Okay, okay," Larxene said, getting up and leaving.

_

* * *

In the lunchroom…_

Ven and a few members of the KS team walked towards the lunch line. As they did, they received thumbs ups from the nerds and outcasts of the school. "Man, I feel so important now," Ven said. "Yeah, but don't let it go to your head. One false move and we've got a war on our hands," Zack said.

The new member, Yuna, asked him, "So, why are the jocks ruling over nerds here?" "You don't know?" Luneth asked, bewildered. "I would like to know too," Firion said. "Oh, I forgot that Yuna's from Besaid," Zack said. "Well, Yuna and Firion, the schools of Radiant Garden have always had the jocks against the nerds. No one really knows what the reason is but, for some reason, here in the high school for the past 60 years, the jocks have had rule over the school. Not a single principal has broken up that rule, not even Dr. Yen Sid," Luneth explained as they walked up in line.

"Oh, so is that the reason as to why we don't have new instruments in the music department?" Yuna asked. "And is that why we don't have new lockers and books?" Firion asked. "Yep. It's always been like this, even in middle school," Yuffie sighed. Once the group was finished with the conversation, they had their lunches and proceeded to find their table.

They found Isa, Lea, Zidane, Garnet and Vivi sitting at their table with their brought from home lunches. When Ven had sat down, he made no eye contact with Isa and sat next to Vivi (who, in turn, sat next to Yuffie). Isa paid no attention to him, determined not to say sorry. Vivi noticed this and asked, "Why aren't you two talking to each other? Aren't you guys friends?"

"Well, if jerk-face over there would say sorry, then I _may _talk to him," Ven said, looking at Vivi. "If you weren't so obsessed with peanut butter, I wouldn't have said what I said yesterday, would I?" Isa said. "Not this again," Lea sighed. "Okay, you two. Chill," Zack said.

"Well, Isa should say sorry!" Ven yelled. "Sorry? Why should I apologize for? You always get obsessed when it comes to peanut butter! You nearly killed us the last time you lost it!" Isa yelled back. "I said I was sorry," Ven yelled back, glaring at Isa. "Well, sorry doesn't cut it after you've tried to kill your friends five times over not having peanut butter!" Isa yelled, glaring harsher at Ven.

"Guys, guys, we shouldn't be fighting like this. We must be unified," Garnet said, trying to calm the two boys down. "Shut up!" Isa and Ven yelled at her. Garnet gasped and Zidane yelled at them, defending Garnet, "Why don't you both shut up?" "Guys, our customer's here," Vivi yelled loudly, pointing at an approaching Demyx.

The group quieted down and Isa and Ven began mumbling death threats under their breath. "Oh, hi. You're Zack, right?" Demyx said, pointing at Zack. "Yep, that's me. The head of the KS squad," Zack replied. "What do you need?" he asked.

"Well, I talked to these four over here and they told me to come here during 5th hour lunch," Demyx said. "Oh, you mean Yuffie, Vivi, Isa and Luneth?" Zack asked. "Yeah, they told me to come here," Demyx said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Yuna. "So, what's the problem?" Lea asked. Demyx explained to the rest of the group what happened with him and his guitar.

After he was done, the group had already come up with plans to take down Larxene. One idea was to stuff her locker full of melted ice cream. Zack refuted the idea, saying that they couldn't find ice cream like that fast enough. Another was to take her cheerleading uniform. That idea was shot down as Zack said, "She always wear her uniform in school. We can't just take it off of _her._" So, the only thing the group could come up with was to take something that was most precious to her and break it: her I-pod.

Everyone agreed and the plan was quickly put into motion. Garnet was to find Larxene school files and find out what times she goes to her locker. Zidane, a master thief part-time, was to break into Larxene's locker when she was away (and when no one was looking). Lea and Ven were to be lookouts for both Garnet and Zidane. "Okay, the plan starts after lunch. So, Garnet, be ready," Zack said. When the lunch bell rung the said persons in plan went into action while the others went to class.

_

* * *

Later that day in the hallways on the first floor…_

A news team from one of the local stations had come to the school to give an interview with Coach Jihl. The reason was that they wanted to know the secret to the school's success in winning 6 national trophies for cheer leading in the past six years. While walking with Coach Jihl to the gymnasium, the news reporter asked, "What is the secret to your success in helping the school win 6 trophies in the national cheerleading competition since you've been coach?" "Well, Bob, my success is in empowerment. I'm all about women empowerment. I empower my Cheerios by making them live in a state of constant fear in an environment of random, irrational terror," Coach Jihl replied, walking relatively fast. The reporter, Bob, then thought, 'Okay, how is that women empowerment?'

The group went into the gym and saw a horrifying sight. There were only two cheerleaders ready for practice. Coach Jihl, who was wearing her glasses at the time, suddenly ripped off her glasses and stared at the sight in anger. As she did that, the reporter and crew could swear they heard "epic music" coming from her. "Where are the others?" Coach Jihl yelled. One of the two cheerleaders replied, "Dr. Yen Sid said that since you didn't abide by his ultimatum, he kicked the girls with Fs in math out of the cheerleading squad." Coach Jihl then turned to the reporters, saying in a low voice, "You may want to get out of the room." Bob and the camera crew quickly filed out and Coach Jihl screamed so many curses that even the astronauts in space heard her.

_

* * *

In Prof. Xehanort's office…_

Prof. Xehanort was minding his own business when he heard a stream of loud curses. Knowing who it came from, he smirked evilly as he checked tests. His assistant, Garnet (who was following the KS squad plan to take down Larxene), dropped several students' school files onto the floor and ran into Prof. Xehanort's office. "Sir, did you scream?" she asked. "No, that was Coach Jihl Nabaat," Prof. Xehanort calmly said, still checking papers and grading them. Afraid to ask, Garnet said, "You…didn't have anything to do with that, right Professor?"

"No, why do you ask?" Prof. Xehanort innocently said, not looking up. "Um, well, I've heard that you and Coach Jihl have been at each other's throats since time immemorial," Garnet replied. "It hasn't been that long. Coach Jihl has only been here six years. I've been here for about 11," Prof. Xehanort replied, not looking up from the papers. "Okay, whatever you say, Professor," Garnet mumbled. She was about to leave when Prof. Xehanort asked, "You're not with that newly formed 'Knights Scholastica' group, are you?"

Garnet jumped up and nervously said, "N-no. W-why do you ask?" Prof. Xehanort looked up at her and said, "I was going to congratulate the group on stopping the bullies from harming any other students. But, since you're not with them, I can't give them any thanks." "Well, if I see them, I'll send them your thanks," Garnet said and quickly ran out of the office. Xehanort smirked and said, "Well, I guess I can use you all to take down Dilan and Jihl soon."

_

* * *

At the end of the day in the faculty parking lot…_

Prof. Xehanort, with briefcase and books in hand was about to enter his black and silver SUV when he saw Coach Jihl bolting towards him with a glare most unpleasant. When she had arrived, Coach Jihl said to him breathlessly, "Why did you do that to my Cheerios?" "Did what?" Prof. Xehanort asked, entering the vehicle and closing the driver's door. "You know what you did! You convinced Yen Sid to destroy the squad!" Coach Jihl yelled. "I don't know what you are talking about," Prof. Xehanort asked, starting the vehicle.

Coach Jihl, seemingly defeated, said to him, "Fine. You don't know. But, I'll tell you this. If you can't convince Yen Sid to bring me back my Cheerios, I will go the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with said kitty cat. And then on some dark, cold night, I will steal away into your home…and punch you in the face!" For some reason, as she spoke, Coach Jihl provided drawings of a chibi-sized Xehanort holding the cat, falling in love with the cat and being punched in the face by a chibi Jihl.

When she was done, Coach Jihl walked over to her car, entered it, pulled up a cannot-be-said-by-name finger and drove off. Prof. Xehanort then burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. 'Why on earth would she think I would go and convince Yen Sid to reestablish the 'Cheerios'? Is she that stupid or what?' Xehanort thought as he was laughing. Still laughing, he put the SUV in reverse, put it back in "Drive" and drove off for home.

_

* * *

Hmm, will the KS squad's plan succeed? Will Isa and Ven forgive each other? Will the "Cheerios" ever get back together? Will Larxene win the "Greatest Bully of 2010" award? And will Coach Jihl buy Prof. Xehanort that kitty cat from the animal shelter and punch him in the face? Stay tuned. Oh, and review please!_

_-miano53_


	19. Revenge of the Nerds, pt II

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

_

* * *

Life in Radiant Garden_

Revenge of the Nerds, pt. II

Late the next morning (Dec. 8), Prof. Zexion walked towards his classroom and saw an odd sight. He saw a crying Larxene on the floor, holding an I-pod. Afraid, as the girl had a habit of thrashing anyone who angered her, Prof. Zexion asked, "Um, Larxene? Are you alright?" She looked up and yelled, "Of course I'm not alright! Some idiot wiped out all the songs of my I-pod with a virus!"

Angered, Larxene got up and said, "I bet a nerd did this! When I find that nerd, I'll strangle him until his face turns blue!" "Um, Larxene, I can't allow you to do that," Prof. Zexion said. "Why? Is it because you're a nerd, Zexion?" Zexion heard someone say. He sighed and said, "Don't a warrant a hello, Jihl."

Coach Jihl had arrived to the scene when one of her Cheerios told her that Larxene was crying. "Larxene, what is the matter with you? You know jocks don't cry as it is a sign of weakness. Once the nerds see your weakness, they'll swarm over you like a pack of wolves," Coach Jihl said. "Uh, Jihl, wolves don't swarm. They hunt and surround," Prof. Zexion said, correcting her.

"I will not take corrections from you. I will not be treated as a second-class citizen because of my gender," Coach Jihl said, confusing both Zexion and Larxene. "Um, what did a correction have to do with gender issues?" Larxene asked. Prof. Zexion placed a hand on Larxene's shoulder and said, "Don't. Just don't." With that, Prof. Zexion washed his hands of that weirdness by leaving and heading to his classroom.

_

* * *

In Prof. Xehanort's office…_

Prof. Sazh had entered and saw Garnet, Zack and Ven sitting in chairs in front of Xehanort's desk. Noticing that Xehanort was typing up something, Prof. Sazh said, "Hey, did you call me?" "Yes, I did," Prof. Xehanort said, not looking from the computer. "But why did you call us?" Zack asked.

"I've noticed that the general student population has had an increase in confidence. Many are starting to walk taller and looking at the students in the athletics department with confidence. And, I've noticed something else," Prof. Xehanort said, looking at the three teens. He pulled out a card from his desk. Ven, Zack and Garnet looked at it and immediately jumped in their seats with fear. The card was one of the business cards that the group had passed out that Monday.

"Does this belong to any of you?" Prof. Xehanort asked. The three shook their heads no. "Odd, as this card has a kid name Zack on the back as a person to contact the KS group," Prof. Xehanort said, looking at the back of the card. "Prof. X, there's plenty of kids in the school named 'Zack'," Zack said, trying to be as innocent as possible. "Oh, so you don't mind if I call him, do you?" Prof. Xehanort said. He punched in the numbers on the back of the card and much to Garnet and Ven's horror, Zack's cell phone went off.

Prof. Xehanort smirked and the three teens began trembling in fear. "Y-you're not gonna get us in trouble with Dr. Yen Sid?" Ven asked. Much to everyone's surprise, Prof. Xehanort said, "No." "No?" everyone yelled. "Why should I? You all are protecting the general population and that is a good thing," Prof. Xehanort said, explaining his reasoning for not turning the group in.

"So, why did you call me in?" Prof. Sazh asked. "I was getting to that. Since every club here has a teacher that sponsors it, I was hoping to become the KS squads sponsor," Prof. Xehanort said. "What?" the three teens yelled. "But, the KS team is a secret organization. We can't have a teacher sponsor it," Ven said.

"Now that I think about it, you can. Since I want funding to be drawn evenly so we can get new textbooks, I'll join you guys," Prof. Sazh said. "Xehanort, if they meet in any classroom that you're over, Jihl will suspect and their little group will be discovered," Sazh added. "You're right. You all can meet in any place of your choosing, just not in any of mine or Prof. Sazh's classrooms. But, you must tell me where and when you all will meet," Prof. Xehanort told the teens.

Since Professors Sazh and Xehanort were now the KS squad's sponsors, Zack was to give the two the names of all the members. After he was finished writing their names down, Garnet had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Noticing this, Ven asked, "What's wrong?" "It feels as if we're being watched," was all Garnet could say. Prof. Sazh looked around and noticed a hidden camera behind one of Xehanort's snow globes. He grabbed it and he knew where it came from as he said, "Jihl."

_

* * *

Around 10 a.m. in the fifth floor hallways…_

Braig, determined to be back in the running for "Greatest Bully of 2010" (and for regaining the Archery Team and his honor among the jocks), walked in the halls, looking for an audience. When he did, the crowd gathered around him, wondering who his next victim was going to be. Braig opened his leather jacket and the crowd gasped. The name on the shirt was "Vivi Orunitia".

_

* * *

A bit later in the fourth floor hallways…_

Vivi was heading straight for his English class when he heard a faint walking sound coming from behind him. He turned around and noticed that no one was there. "Hmm? It could've been my imagination," Vivi said and kept walking. Once he did, he bumped straight into Braig.

"Vivi," Braig said. "Uh, hi Braig. Um, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Vivi asked. "Yeah, but why go when I can reclaim my honor," Braig said. "Honor? What honor?" Vivi asked. Instead of answering the question, Braig picked him up and carried him to the third floor.

_

* * *

Around lunchtime…_

The KS group noticed that something was a bit off. There was hardly anyone in the lunchroom and Vivi was missing in the group. "Where's Vivi?" Lea asked. "You don't think he…" Garnet asked Zack. "What happened?" Ven asked, just coming in. Zack, remembering what happened in Prof. Xehanort's office, rushed out of the lunchroom. The others did the same and found Vivi in a compromising position.

He was locked in the school's trophy case. Almost the entire student body surrounded the case and was pointing at him, laughing the whole time. "Hey, let me out! C'mon, let me out!" Vivi cried, banging on the case.

Ven and the others asked a nearby kid on what happened and the kid said, "Oh, this is Braig's new victim. You gotta check it out." Zack immediately went over to the case and opened it. "Alright, it's okay, Vivi," he said to him. "Thank you," Vivi meekly said, face turning green.

"Okay people, Vivi can be a little claustrophobic. So, he might…" Zack explained. Vivi began vomiting on the floor and all Zack could say was, "Hurl." After recovering, Vivi said, wiping parts of his now dirty face, "What a perfectly good waste of a chili cheese omelet." "Ew," the crowd said. Zack was about to go back over to the KS team when a certain hand grabbed the back of his shirt and snatched him away.

_

* * *

In the boy's bathroom on the third floor…_

Marluxia, intending to reclaim his family's honor, began charging the boys in the third floor bathroom rates. An unlucky boy, washing his hands, was caught by Marluxia and he began whimpering. Pulling out his I-pad, Marluxia said, "Alright, that 500 munny for using the sink, 400 munny for turning on the water, 600 munny for paper towel usage and 300 munny for soap usage." "Um, I only have 700 munny," the boy said. "Sorry to hear that," Marluxia said to him, not caring.

The "financial meeting" was interrupted when Braig came in dragging Zack into the bathroom. "Hey, how much for a 'Swirly'?" he asked. The boy, seizing this moment, ran out of the bathroom. "Ah, take Stall #4. No charge," Marluxia said, opening the fourth stall. "Thanks, man," Braig said and dunk Zack's head in the toilet, despite the teen's protests.

_

* * *

After school at Isa's house…._

The KS squad (minus Luneth who was studying) was fuming as their leader, Zack was soaked from the swirly and freezing. They were also fuming as their group was discovered by the jocks. "How did they find out?" Lea asked. "Coach Jihl placed a hidden camera in Prof. Xehanort's office. I wouldn't be surprised if the jocks come after us more now," Garnet said.

"Well, if we don't wanna end up posted to a wall somewhere, we should strike first," Firion said, eating a bag of chips. "What if we just take the munny Marluxia stole this week?" Zidane asked, giving a suggestion. "No, that'll get us killed now that they know us," Zack said to him, shooting the idea down (and warming up with a cover and heater). Ven, with a idea, said, "What if we play on their fears?" Zack, just warming up, thought about it and after a few minutes, he yelled, "Ven, you're a genius!"

"How?" Vivi asked. "We already know what Marluxia is afraid of. We just have to find out what the other top jocks are scared of," Ven explained. "So, what's Braig afraid of?" Lea asked. "Well, if a certain person would look through the school's medical files, we would've found out long time ago," Zidane said, glaring at Garnet.

"Okay, I'll try to convince Yazoo to let me see Braig's medical files," Garnet said, caving into the group's demands. "So, what about Larxene? I still want payback for what she did to 'Pucca'," Yuffie said, talking about her still broken cell phone. "Well, what _is_ Larxene afraid of? She sees anything that's pain-filled as fun," Demyx, the newcomer, asked.

Yuna told the group, "Well, I heard that at her fourteenth birthday party, her mom wanted to rent a clown. The instant she heard the word 'clown', she passed out." "Well, we should do recon on her based on that theory. Zidane, Yuffie and Demyx, you three place a clown doll in her locker and see what her reaction is to the doll. If she screams or pass out, we'll go to Phase 2," Zack said to them.

"But what if she doesn't?" Vivi asked, worried. "Then we can scream and cry," Zack replied. "Garnet, Yuna and Vivi, you three convince Yazoo to show us his medical records. If you can't, just tell him that we won't kick Kadaj's butt for a month," Zack said. "Okay," Vivi said for them.

"Ven, Firion, and Isa, I'll go to my cousin's job and take that old Barney costume they have in the archives. Firion, since you're the tallest, you can wear the costume and scare the crap out of Marluxia," Zack said to the boys. "Yes, sweet vengeance," Ven said, turning into Vanitas…again (and scaring everyone….again).

Two days later, the group began to act on their plan. For Larxene, Yuffie and Demyx had went to the local toy store the day before and bought a clown doll. Breaking into her locker that morning with Zidane's help, the three placed the clown doll on top of several of her books. Hearing the sound of people heading in their direction, the group closed the locker and hid around the corner.

Much to their luck, Larxene showed up with several of the Cheerios. One of them, loud as ever, asked her, "What did Coach Jihl want us to do with that KS group?" Shushing her, Larxene said, "She wants us to find them and pummel them." "Oh, so we're at war?" that same cheerleader asked. Another, replying for Larxene (as she was opening her locker), said, "No, duh!"

When Larxene opened her locker, a wave of horror fell on her. "No, why is that here?" she screamed. "What? What's the matter?" one of the Cheerios asked. "Clown…" was all Larxene could say before passing out. When the Cheerios saw this, they began screaming, "Someone help!"

_

* * *

5th hour, in Nurse Rosa Harvey's office…_

The Jenova brothers were in the office, bored out of their minds. Their brother, Yazoo, was the nurse's assistant and was the only one working. Kadaj and Loz, the ones who were really bored, began playing with the medical equipment. Kadaj kept using the cotton swabs for his ears and began wasting them. Loz began playing with the blood pressure machine and managed to nearly cut off his circulation. When Yazoo saw this, he immediately took away the machine and said, "Loz, this is not a toy!"

Kadaj, wanting for his brother to hurry up, said to him, "C'mon Yazoo. Let's hurry up and go to lunch already!" "Yeah, it's Fish Taco Thursday, Yazoo!" Loz yelled, playing with a stethoscope. "Well, I have to place everything in alphabetical and size order. So, this may take a while," Yazoo replied.

Garnet entered the office and the three boys began to get nervous. "Um, Garnet, w-what are you doing here?" Yazoo asked. "Um, can I please see Braig Archer's medical file," she asked. "No, absolutely not. All student medical files are confidential and if I showed one to you, I may get expelled," Yazoo said to her.

Loz, bored with the conversation, began playing around with the scale. He began spinning around on the pole (don't ask) and began laughing at the same time. "Ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha!" he laughed. After the seventh spin, his grip gave out and he was sent flying into the file cabinet. The cabinet burst open and many student medical files were scattered.

"Loz, do you realize how long it took me to alphabetize them?" Yazoo screamed. Kadaj, seeing Braig's file, picked it up and opened it. He read an interesting passage about one of Braig's medical issues. He, sadly, had the fear of needles.

"Ah-ha-ha! Did you know that 'The Freeshooter' is scared of needles? Ha, what a wimp!" Kadaj yelled. Garnet heard this and began to slowly leave the room. When Kadaj saw her leave, he dropped the file and chased after her.

When he caught up with her, he asked, "So, what are you gonna do now that you know about Braig's 'fear of needles'?" "Um, well everyone wants vengeance on him and we couldn't do anything without that info," Garnet vaguely said. Quickly getting it, Kadaj asked, "Can I help?" Knowing what usually happens when Kadaj help out with anything, Garnet quickly said no and ran off to lunch. Kadaj, already having a plan formulating in his mind, said, "Well, if you're not gonna help me, I'll do it myself."

_

* * *

In the school's library…_

Marluxia, after taking several kids lunch munny during 5th hour lunch, began counting up the munny and using his I-pad to check his gross revenue. "Okay, so I've managed to gain a profit of 2000 munny today. Let's check…." Marluxia said when the lights in the library suddenly went off. He looked around, wondering who had turned off the lights.

What made it horrifying was that no one but him was there. The door to the library was opened and Marluxia saw a horrifying sight. He saw his arch nemesis: Barney the Dinosaur. The theme to the "dinosaur" began playing and the "creature" began walking towards Marluxia. "No, you're not even real. You can't be here," Marluxia said, backing away.

As the "dinosaur" closed in on him, Marluxia began screaming. "No, get away from me! Get away!" When the "dinosaur" was close enough, Marluxia began to scream so loud that the "dinosaur" nearly went deaf. "Aah! Aah!" Marluxia scream and threw his I-pad and munny at the "dinosaur".

About an hour later, Prof. Zexion's history class was on their way to the library. "Everyone, there should be no excuse in not having your paper done by today. Yes, I know everyone wants to have computers _in_ the history computer lab, but funds are down this year," Prof. Zexion said to his students. When they entered the room, they noticed that the lights were out.

"Who turned off the lights?" Prof. Zexion asked. One of the students found the light switch and turned on the lights. What the students saw next would shock even the most stoic person. The pupils and teacher saw Marluxia under a table, in a fetal position and shaking. The students surrounded the table and one of them said, "Hey look, it's Marluxia."

The students began pointing and laughing at him. Prof. Zexion, worried as that never happened before, asked Marluxia, "What happened?" All Marluxia could say was, "He's gonna eat me." Confused, Prof. Zexion asked, "Who?" "Barney…the dinosaur," Marluxia replied, still shaking. The Journalism club, present, quickly ran over to the guy. Writing something down in their pad, one of the club members said, "'Look who's cryin' now?'" Prof. Zexion, seeing that they took a picture of a petrified Marluxia, told them, "Get away from here!" Looking at his students, he said, "Okay, someone get the school counselor."

_

* * *

Well, at least we know that Marluxia and Larxene's fears are quite bad. So, now, read and review please._

_-miano53_


	20. Revenge of the Nerds, pt III

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

_

* * *

Life in Radiant Garden_

Revenge of the Nerds, pt. III

That Friday morning, the school's newspaper's headline read, "Marluxia Cries Due to Fear of Barney!" Coach Jihl saw this and was greatly disappointed. Writing in her journal, she wrote, "How dare Marluxia cave into that stupid fear of that purple dinosaur? He has now disgraced us jocks and I for one believes that he should be pummeled for what he did." Her writing session was ended when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she yelled. Who she saw next was someone that should've stayed far, far away from her office. "What do you want, 'Ladyface'?" she asked the tenth grade theatre student. The person that she called "Ladyface" was….Zidane's older brother, Kuja (wearing clothes in the colors of blue and white). Unlike what Coach Jihl thought, Kuja liked to keep up with his appearance. Okay, make that _love _to keep up with his appearance.

"Dr. Yen Sid requests of your presence in his office," Kuja told her, holding a memo. Coach Jihl took the memo and read it. "What? Why is Xehanort going?" she asked. "I haven't a clue, but he told me that if you do not show up, consider your Cheerios forever disbanded and you fired," Kuja said, leaving.

* * *

_In Dr. Yen Sid's office…._

Prof. Xehanort sat down in a chair in front of Yen Sid's desk. He was in a good mood, until Jihl had arrived. She looked at his hair and said, "Xehanort, I could get some Wutai cookery to rub your hair with. 'Cause right now, you've got enough product in your hair to season a wok." "Hello, Jihl," Xehanort sighed, tired of Jihl and her rants about his hair.

"What're we here for?" Jihl asked her boss. "Well, you two are here because I've heard of a war that has been going on for the past two weeks. Xehanort, I've heard that you and Prof. Sazh have become the KS group's sponsors. Yes, it is a good thing to defend those who have been cast down, but I've heard rumors that they have taken it too far," Dr. Yen Sid said.

Looking at Jihl, he continued with, "I've also heard that the Cheerios and the other athletes have been attacking the students with more malice. If you two do not stop these groups, consider both groups dissolved and you two fired." He ended the warning by telling the two to make a truce and hugging afterward.

"What? Are you insane?" they yelled. "Hug or be fired," Dr. Yen Sid told them. Xehanort and Jihl turned to each other and reluctantly hugged. When they hugged, Xehanort whispered, "I shall destroy you." Jihl replied in kind by saying, "I'm about to vomit down your back." "It's on," Xehanort whispered and the two released their hug.

* * *

_During 5__th__ hour lunch…_

Kadaj and Loz took nurse's uniforms from Nurse Rosa's office. Creating fliers, Kadaj began chuckling evilly to himself. After the fliers were finished, Kadaj looked at Loz and said, "You know what to do, right Lumpy?" "Yup, just pass out the fliers to the students!" Loz yelled happily.

The two headed straight for the lunchroom. When they arrived, they saw that many kids were in attendance. Much to the Jenova boys luck, Braig and the archery team was there. When the boys entered, Loz yelled, "Hello students!" He then managed to trip over his own foot.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't 'Doctor Dorkindale' and 'Nurse Twerpenstein'," Braig said, many of the kids, minus the KS group, laughed and Kadaj pulled out a bullhorn. "Ha, ha, ha, laugh it up. Nurse Loz, it seems one of the students didn't get their booster shot this year," Kadaj said. The room then went eerily silent.

"Well, good thing for them that today's 'Booster Shot Day'!" Kadaj said looking around evilly. Loz then yelled, "Hand out the leaflets, Lumpy!" He then threw the leaflets into the air. Many of the students, including the archery team and the KS group, grabbed the leaflets and began whispering to themselves. "Oh no. Are they sure it's today?" were many of the whispers in the lunchroom.

Braig looked at the leaflet and said, "Today's not Booster Shot day! Is it?" "Tell them to line up in the gym, bonehead," Loz said to himself. "Oh, did I do good, Kadaj?" he asked his brother. "Shh!" Kadaj shushed.

The two saw that Braig looked at the leaflet and began shivering in fright. Seeing this, Kadaj headed over to Isa with a meat thermometer and said, "Oh, Isa. That hot dog looks like it could scald your mouth. Let's poke it, just to make sure it's safe to eat." He then punctured the hot dog with the thermometer. Braig saw this, grabbed his left arm and immediately passed out.

"Oh my god! Braig fainted!" one of the archers yelled. "Are you okay?" one of the cheerleaders asked him. Braig snapped out of his trauma and got up, saying, "Oh, yeah. Um, what's that? Oh, the Coach's callin' me. See ya!" He then left the lunchroom, making Kadaj burst into a fit of laughter.

Most of the students didn't get why he was laughing due to their fear of "Booster Shot Day". So, most of them left, mumbling their fears under their breath. The KS team didn't and glared at Kadaj. "Kadaj, this doesn't have anything to do with you, right?" Zack asked. "No, why would it?" Kadaj said innocently.

"Kadaj…" Isa said warningly. "What? Why are you guys defending a jock that's scared of needles?" Kadaj yelled. The word "needles" caused for the hairs on Loz's neck to stand on end. "Needle! Run away!" he screamed, carrying Kadaj out of the lunchroom and bursting through the lunchroom door.

"Evil, pointy, bad for Loz, Kadaj!" Loz yelled. Kadaj, using the clipboard he brought with him, hit poor Loz upside the head. "You're not getting a booster shot, Loz. No one is! It's a joke? Get it," Kadaj said. "Not funny, Kadaj," Loz said, glaring at him.

The two then saw Braig in the hall. "Heh, heh, heh, round two," Kadaj said. Braig, not noticing the two, entered the boys' restroom to calm himself down. After splashing some water on his face, he said, "Dude, you gotta pull yourself together. It's just a dumb needle."

He then looked up and saw a poster with a screaming person getting a booster shot. Panicking, Braig screamed, "Aw, man! That's gonna be me! Aah!" He rushed into one of the stalls and held onto the walls for dear life.

Kadaj and Loz entered the restroom and Kadaj said aloud, "We need to sterilize these sharp needles, Loz." "Ooh, tell them how pointy they are, Lumpy!" Loz yelled, seemingly happy again. Braig panicked and jumped into an above heating vent. As he ran into the heating vent, Kadaj and Loz began laughing at him and followed him.

Braig crawled through the small vents to find a way out of the school. Much to his dismay, Loz burst his head through one of the openings and had a "needle" pierced through his head. "Needle…Brain…Ouch," was all Loz said. Braig panicked and rushed through the vents. Kadaj and Loz began laughing at him and Loz took off the fake needle hat. "Okay, round three," Kadaj said to his brother, holding a large replicated needle made out of trash.

* * *

_On the other side of the school…._

Yazoo, after finishing filing Nurse Rosa's medical files, began walking out of the office, proud of himself. "Well, everything's all nice and clean. Time to get something to…Oof," he said, bumping into Ven. "Ven? What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Yazoo asked the boy.

"Well, it's booster shot day and I'm ready for my shot!" Ven yelled, pulling up his right sleeve. "Um, 'Booster Shot Day'?" Yazoo asked. "Yeah, there are fliers all over the school. Teachers, students and even Yen Sid's getting their booster shot," Ven explained. Yazoo looked around and saw that, unlike Ven, most of the school was panicking.

He saw Yuna on her cell phone, calling her dad. "Yeah, um, Dad, I wanted to say I love you. Like, just in case I die from the shot," she said. Yazoo then saw Yuffie and Vivi (who was wearing knight's armor) coming down the hall. Since the armor that Vivi wore was too heavy, he had to be pushed by Yuffie into the gym.

Yuffie then screamed, looking at the poster, "I heard that those needles could poke a hole through a truck tire, Vivi!" "Owie, Yuffie," Vivi screamed. The two took their place in the extremely long line and Yazoo noticed that even the teachers were in line, panicking. Yazoo felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Firion, Lea and Zidane holding presents of munny, food and a new pair of gym shoes.

Firion, speaking for the group, said, "Yazoo, take our gifts and be quick with that pain-filled poke!" The three took their place in line and began panicking. "Yazoo, please have mercy on me and not repeatedly stab the same place on my arm to find the vein," Garnet screamed, giving Yazoo 20,000 munny.

Yazoo took the gifts but then looked in his journal. "Booster Shot Day? Today?" he asked himself while looking through the journal. While he did that, Kadaj and Loz, holding the fake needle, began chasing Braig through the heating vents. When they found him hiding in the vent, Kadaj screamed, "Come on and get your shot, you big baby!" Loz then pulled out a used lollipop and yelled, "I'll give you a lollipop if you're a big boy!"

The two then revealed the gigantic "needle". Braig screamed and rushed out of the vent. He fell onto the ground and Kadaj raised the "needle" over his head. "Stick out your arm, you big baby!" Braig backed up against the wall and yelled, "No way! Back off man!"

"Ha, who's the big shot now? Get it? 'Big shot'? Ah-ha-ha! I'm too good! Ah-ha!" Kadaj screamed, laughing.

Yazoo walked up to the three boys and said to Kadaj, "Um, there's a tad bit of confusion about this Booster Shot Day. I have no schedules for any booster shots today." When Braig heard this, his fear was erased and he said, "What?" Kadaj was about to say something when Vivi, who stepped out of the gym, screamed, "Look at the size of that poker! It's after me! Aah!"

The students then looked outside the gym and began screaming when they saw the "needle". Yuna screamed, running into the girls' bathroom, "Oh my god, it's gonna hurt!" Firion screamed, "Don't hurt me!" Lea screamed, jumping into his locker, "Not today man!" Garnet followed Yuna into the bathroom, crying, "That needle's gonna kill me!" Needless to say, several members of the KS team were equally afraid of needles just like Braig.

After that chaotic fiasco, Kadaj and Yazoo turned to each other and Kadaj said to his brother, "Watch this, Yazoo. It's hilarious!" He then started to poke Braig with the "needle" (whose tip was created by a golf club). Kadaj began laughing and didn't notice that Braig was glaring at him. Braig pulled up his sleeves and in anger, got up.

"That was really funny, dorky. So, I guess it's my turn then," Braig said. Taking the golf club from the "needle", he yelled, "Kiss your face goodbye, loser!" Kadaj then hid behind Loz and said, "Uh, take Loz's face! He doesn't need it!"

"Fore!" Braig screamed, holding the club in the air. Kadaj pulled Yazoo in front of the two troublesome brothers and Kadaj told him, "Yazoo, give Braig one of your pamphlets!" "Move it or lose it, Yazoo!" Braig said, still holding the club in attack position. "Braig, I have a better idea than the barbaric pummeling of a troublesome person," Yazoo said. He then whispered something in Braig's ear and Kadaj hid in a nearby empty classroom.

* * *

_At Nurse Rosa's office…_

Braig was reading a pamphlet for taking booster shots. When he was done, Yazoo appeared and said, "Nurse Rosa wishes to see you now." "Hey, this booster shot thing wasn't a bad read," Braig said, putting up the pamphlet. "Okay, now if you sign here," Yazoo said. Walking past him and into the office, Braig said, "Don't push it."

Yazoo then saw Loz holding Kadaj piggyback style. "Look who I found pretending to be a stuffed walrus, Yazoo," Loz said. "Ah, Nurse Rosa is happy with you volunteering," Yazoo said, smiling evilly. "Volunteer? For what?" Kadaj asked.

"You're volunteering to show Braig how safe a _real_ booster shot is," Yazoo said. Kadaj saw Nurse Rosa put medicine in one of the sterilized needles. She then tapped the needle, causing for Kadaj to panic. "Nuh uh! Not me!" Kadaj screamed, running away. Much to his dismay, Loz caught him by the legs and dragged him into the office.

Once there, Kadaj gave Nurse Rosa his arm and he screamed, "Don't do it! I'm too young!" Once Loz saw the needle, he screamed, "Needle? Run away!" He then burst through the office door and left his brother to suffer the wrath of the booster shot while Braig laughed.

* * *

_Shorter than usual. Oh well. Well, that's what Kadaj gets for making fun of Braig's fear. Okay, need ideas for this story. I'm getting a writer's cramp on this _:(

_-miano53_


	21. Christmas Vacation, pt I

_I'm back! Well, after almost a month of not having good ideas (mostly 'cause of writing Book of Beginnings, the one-shot stories, school and other stuff), I finally found one: water skiing. Well, I personally can't water ski (can only swim) so I thought, what if some of the cast of Kingdom Hearts went water/jet skiing for Christmas. So, here's the result._

_-miano53_

* * *

_Disclaimer: Still own nothing…_

* * *

_Life in Radiant Garden_

Christmas Vacation, pt. I

Every year, around the Christmas season, the Pellegrinos always prepare for their Christmas vacation/Terra's Birthday at Destiny Islands. Aqua would work more at the shop for monetary funds. Ven would cut back on peanut butter so Eraqus could have more spending money for him. Terra would write down all the plans that he had for each year.

This year, he wanted to go water skiing around the islands. When he presented the plan to Eraqus on the evening of December 18th, all the older man could do was look at his son. "Do you really know how to water ski?" Eraqus asked Terra. "Yeah, all you have to do is put on the skis, put on the vest, grab the handle, straighten the rope and go," Terra said confidently. "But the last time, you screamed like a little girl," the two heard Ven yell from up the stairs.

"No I didn't," Terra said, getting embarrassed…again. "Yes you did! You screamed 'Get me on the boat!'" Ven laughed. "Riku asked you what was wrong and all you could yell was, 'Yucky toes. The seaweed…It touched me'," he added, coming down the stairs.

"I didn't scream like that," Terra said, lying. "Yes you did," the men heard Aqua say. She came in the door, just getting off of work. "You screamed so loud that everyone thought that you were a girl," she laughed. "Grr, I'm water skiing and that's final!" Terra yelled, stomping to his room.

* * *

_The next day on Destiny Islands…_

Riku, after going to Sunday mass, came back home to find the phone ringing. He answered it and said, "Hey, Ven." "Heya, Riku. Guess what Terra wants to do when we get there," Ven said. "What?" Riku sighed, knowing it was going to bad.

"He wants to go water skiing," Ven said, laughing. Riku, remembering all the epic fails, wipeouts and crashes into his family's boating store, looked horrified and said nothing. After a few moments of awkward silence, Ven said over the phone, "Are you okay?" "No, you remember what happened the first time!" Riku yelled.

"Well, he was just getting started," Ven said, defending his brother. "He wiped out when the boat was going zero! He kept doing that for an _hour_!" Riku yelled. "Then the time after that, he wiped out when the boat took off!" he added.

"Well, he wasn't used to it," Ven said, still defending his brother. "Then the time after that he triple-flipped when he lost the handle!" Riku yelled, getting louder. "He got better…" Ven said, still trying. "He crashed into a jumping dolphin! He nearly killed it!" Riku yelled, angry as he was the one who was teaching Terra.

"Then the time before that, he crashed a jet ski into the boating store!" Riku yelled, getting at his loudest. "We paid for the damages…." Ven mumbled. "He destroyed more than half of the store! We didn't have jobs for months! We had to eat canned tuna, Ven! Canned tuna!" Riku screamed angrily.

"Okay, okay. I'll try to convince Terra not to go jet skiing," Ven said, giving up. Calming down, Riku said, "Good. But if he even touches a jet ski, I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!" The phone then hung up with a click.

* * *

_December 23, morning of departure…_

The Pellegrinos, Yuffie, Lea, Isa, Zack, Squall and Rinoa headed straight for the nearest airport. Once everyone was in attendance, Terra, Eraqus and Squall headed to the ticket booth. There, they found quite a long line. When Squall was next, he headed up to the booth to find that Rinoa and his tickets were denied.

"Here, can you take care of this for me?" Squall asked. The ticket agent sighed and said, "Let me see what I can do." She then rapidly typed on the keyboard and said, "Okay, your tickets are code fare based red. What I can try to do….I can try to…Let me see if this will work."

Squall sighed and the ticket agent began rapidly typing again. "See? It's not accepting it. Because your tickets are T-15116…as it stands right now…." the ticket agent said. "Whatever! I gotta get to Destiny Islands! Move it along! Just give me some new tickets and shove off!" Squall yelled, not wanting to hear any more jargon.

After getting their tickets, everyone began to get extremely angry when they saw their flight was delayed. Aqua read the sign and it said, "Flight 403 to Destiny Islands…Delayed until 15:30 (4:30 p.m.)." "Aw, come on! I wanted to go water skiing," Terra moaned.

"Maybe this is God's way of saying not to water ski," Ven mumbled. "What? Why? I've gotten better," Terra said. "Uh huh. Like last time when you crashed into a group of five skiers," Squall said. "Or the time you crashed headfirst into the lifeguard," Rinoa added.

"Seriously, how can you crash into someone that was on the _beach_?" Lea asked. "'Cause he's just that bad," Isa replied. Terra glared at Isa and Eraqus said, "I will try to find out why this is happening with our flight. Until then, Terra and Aqua, watch my things. The rest of you stay as close as possible just in case things change."

_With Yuffie and Ven…_

The two began walking through the airport, trying to find something to eat. When they arrived at the nearest fast food restaurant, Yuffie's face lit up with glee. Ven, however, was horrified. The restaurant they found was the dreaded restaurant called "Cinnabon".

Yuffie rushed in and Ven smelled the sickening sweet smell of giant cinnamon rolls. He sniffed the air and he immediately said, "Ow, I just got a cavity. Dang cinnabons." Luckily for him, he remembered to bring his jar of peanut butter.

"Let's get in line," Yuffie told him and dragged him to the outrageously long line. When they arrived, Ven noticed that everyone wasn't making eye contact. The line of 150 people had the look of shame on their faces. One man, looking around, said, "I'm just here for the napkins! I'm not a pig like you guys."

Ven never found a reason to have a cinnabon, nor has he eaten one. Unlike Ven, Yuffie found reasons and always tried to persuade him to eat at least one. Just as with any other times, she tried to persuade him again. "They're delicious," Yuffie said while they were in line.

"Seriously, the place is run by Satan. Who would wanna eat 5 pounds of cake before getting on a plane?" Ven said. "But that's what makes waiting at the airport worth it. It's dessert-on-the-go," Yuffie said. "But look at everyone! They look humiliated!" Ven said, looking around.

He then spotted a person who looked morbidly obese. The 6'2 person, weighing in at 450 pounds, was standing in front of ten people ahead of them, had the look of shame/glee on his face. He looked around as if looking for a person and looked ahead in guilt. Ven saw this and said, "Seriously, this he knows full well he shouldn't be eating Cinnabons!"

The man heard him and turned around. "He'll probably get a heart attack if he eats it," Ven said to Yuffie, not noticing the man walked to them. "Uh, Ven," Yuffie said, looking at the large man. "He probably needs insulin after eating it! Cinnabons are evil!" Ven said. "Ven…" Yuffie said, pointing at the guy.

Ven saw this and said, "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?" "Uh huh," Yuffie said. Ven turned around and the man said in a raspy voice, "Why are you talking about my size?" "Um, uh, I was just trying to tell my friend why Cinnabons are evil," Ven said in his defense. The two backed out of line and the man walked up to them.

"No one talks about my size and gets away with it!" the man yelled. He then roared, causing for Yuffie and Ven to scream. They began running and much to their horror, the man chased after them. "OMG, we're gonna die 'cause of your big mouth!" Yuffie screamed at Ven. "It's not my fault! The man knows he can't eat Cinnabons!" Ven screamed.

_With Squall and Rinoa…_

The two began looking around to find a place to eat. That search ended once they found a small bakery that sold small cakes. Rinoa, so hungry that she wanted to eat a whole cake, walked in and Squall thought, 'She got a problem. She's addicted to cake.' He followed her in the store, knowing she was going to come out with a large amount of cakes.

Inside, there were hundreds of small cakes, muffins and other pastries. When Rinoa saw some of the muffins, she said, "Well, I can't have cake. Oh, I'll have a muffin!" Squall looked at her and said, "You wanna know the difference between a cake and a muffin? Nothing. A muffin is a bald cupcake. You know it, Rinoa."

Rinoa scoffed and picked up a bag of mini-muffins. Squall sighed and said, "Rinoa, how much denial are you in?" "Oh, I'm just gonna have one or twelve. They're so small that they don't really count. They're like 'muffin vitamins'. That's why I have them for breakfast," Rinoa replied.

After ten minutes of finding small cakes of chocolate, peanuts (for Ven), vanilla and red velvet, Rinoa and Squall headed outside. Once they were out of the bakery, the two heard screams coming from behind them. The two looked and saw Yuffie and Ven getting chased by….a 450 pound man.

"Aah! Run for it!" Ven screamed, crying. No one had to tell Squall twice as he took off immediately after seeing the fat man running towards them. Rinoa followed and the other two followed her.

As they ran, Yuffie noticed that the man didn't tire. "What is he? A football player? I thought he would be tired by now!" she screamed.

_With Lea and Isa…_

The two boys headed for the nearest Burger King. When they arrived, the two saw that they had a special on "Bacon Burgers". Isa looked at the sign and said, "'Bacon Burgers'? What the heck is that supposed to be?" "I dunno, but it sounds good," Lea said and headed in line.

In line, the two boys found out what the bacon burger was. It was a beef patty that was wrapped with ten slices of bacon. Since the boys were fanatics of bacon (the most beautiful thing on Earth), the two's stomachs began growling. Once at the cash register, Lea and Isa ordered the bacon burger and paid for it, much to everyone's horror.

After about five minutes, the boys received their burgers. Lea opened his up and was angry. His burger only had two strips of bacon while Isa had twelve. Lea headed back to the register and said, "How come I only got two measly strips of bacon on my burger?" "Oh, sorry, we're out of bacon," the clerk said.

"I want more! More bacon!" Lea yelled. Knowing that Lea will set fire to the airport if he didn't get his bacon (the teen usually pulls out his hidden lighter if angered), Isa immediately dragged the teen out of the restaurant. Once they were outside, Isa offered to give Lea five extra strips of bacon from his burger.

After avoiding that potentially dangerous situation and eating their burgers, Lea and Isa heard screams coming from behind them. Lea's face went pale as he saw a fat man chasing Squall, Rinoa, Ven and Yuffie. "Run!" Ven yelled, screaming and crying. Lea dropped his bag of fries and took off. Isa did the same and they hoped that the fries would stop the man. It didn't.

_With Terra, Aqua and Eraqus…._

The three heard screams coming from somewhere. They looked around and saw Squall, Rinoa, Yuffie, Ven, Isa and Lea running away from a morbidly obese man. "Holy…" Terra muttered, shocked. "Terra! Stop him!" Ven yelled, tears streaming down his face (as well as snot from his nose).

Instead of Terra, Eraqus stood in the path of the charging man and the others hid behind him. The man surprisingly stopped, but not before leaving marks on the floor from his shoe. Eraqus, looking stern, said, "Why are you chasing my son and his friends?" "'Cause he talked about my weight," the man said, breathless and raspy. "Ven, what exactly did you say to the man?" Eraqus asked.

"I didn't say anything to him. He just overheard my reasons for not having Cinnabons," Ven said. "He said that I shouldn't be eating them, embarrassing me. No one talks about my weight. No one!" the man yelled.

"I shall deal with my son. In the meantime, here," Eraqus said, giving the man 5,000 munny for his cinnabon. Terra and Aqua saw this and their mouths went agape. "Now, just go in peace. I'll deal with my son," Eraqus said.

The man left, leaving a petrified Ven, Yuffie, Squall and Rinoa. The four collapsed and Ven asked, wiping his nose with a tissue, "Am I on punishment?" "No, just…be careful when speaking in public. You may offend someone like you did today," Eraqus told him.

* * *

_Four hours later (2:00 p.m.)…_

The group heard an announcement about their flight. "Flight 403 to Destiny Islands is now arriving. Please ready yourselves accordingly," the announcer said. The group quickly rushed over to the ticket agent line and saw that the line was horrifically long.

As the group headed further down the line and the ticket agent checked their bags and selves one by one, someone who was pumped for vacation told Terra, "Hey man, you're next." Annoyed, Terra said, "Yeah, I know I'm next. Shut the heck up!" He then looked around, looking worried.

When it was his turn, a ticket agent said, "Next." Terra, not knowing where the voice came from, looked around confused. "Sir, your next. Sir, I will take you over here. Sir! Sir!" the person said impatiently.

Terra walked forward and began walking around with his luggage. "Seriously, I don't see you. I don't know where you are," he said. "Go there! She's over there!" the people in line yelled. Terra, going the wrong way, said, "I don't know. Where do I go?"

"On the other side!" the people yelled. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I don't know where to go!" Terra screamed, panicking. "Sir, I'm looking right at you," the ticket agent yelled.

"Okay! That's not helping me!" Terra screamed with rage, a vein appearing on his face and neck. "Marco!" Terra yelled, hoping to find the lady. "Polo!" the ticket agent yelled. He went in that direction and finally made it to the security line.

There, the agent said, "Sir, do you know what's in your luggage?" Terra (mad that he was late for water skiing on his birthday) sarcastically said to her, "Hmm, no. I tied a sock around my eyes and packed with my feet. I'm thinking…sausages and gunpowder. That's probably it."

Aqua, knowing security would arrest Terra, said to the ticket agent, "He's being sarcastic!" After seeing his luggage carried off to the plane and he was screened for illegal items, Terra joined the rest of the group and they began boarding the plane. Once there, he immediately put on his headphones, sat next to Ven and began listening to his I-Pod. Ven placed a pillow behind his head and took a nap.

Squall sat next to Rinoa and the two fell asleep. Aqua sat next to Isa, who in turn sat next to Lea and Erauqus. Once the whole plane was filled, the pilot ordered for everyone to put on their seat belts. The passengers (including Rinoa and Squall who were awoken by a steward) did and the plane took off.

That night, the plane flew through calm winds and skies. Terra and the others were sound asleep as well as most people on the plane. The pilot and co-pilot were peacefully monitoring the auto-pilot when an alarm began blaring. The pilot saw that they were headed straight for a storm.

He immediately went on the P.A. speakers and said to the passengers, "Uh, we'll be experiencing some turbulence. So, everyone stay in your seats until further notice." That woke up Terra and he immediately became pale (as he hates turbulence when in planes or airships). Eraqus and Aqua woke up after hearing the announcement and glanced over at a terrified Terra.

Much to Terra's dismay, the plane began rocking due to the turbulence of the storm. That woke up the others and everyone began looking around in panic. "Er, everyone, stay in your seats. We're experiencing turbulence," the pilot said. Ven looked outside the window and saw rain and lightning outside.

What made the situation worse was that a bolt of lightning hit the plane, causing it to drop 1,000 feet. That unleashed Terra's anima (his girly side). He grabbed Ven, hugged him and began screaming loudly in the upper decibels. "Aah! Aah! Ah-ha-ha! Aah! Aah," he screamed in the soprano range, nearly making everyone around him deaf and causing for the steward to question his…sanity.

He kept screaming like that until the stewards told him, "Sir. It's okay. The turbulence is over. We're out of the storm."

Terra didn't hear them and kept screaming. "Aah! Aah! Aah!" he screamed.

His hug tightened around Ven, causing for the poor boy's face to turn blue. "Terra…can't…breathe," he said, gasping for air. "Aah! Aah! Ah-ha-ha!" Terra kept screaming.

"Terra, get a hold of yourself man!" Lea yelled, getting out of his seat. "Seriously, Terra, we're okay. We're not dead," Aqua said, getting out of her seat. "Aah!" Terra screamed.

Noticing poor Ven was suffocating, Aqua pried the boy out of Terra's arms (with great difficulty). After a few moments of prying the poor boy out, Aqua was immediately grabbed by Terra and was locked in a choke hold. "Aah! Aah! I'm gonna die!" Terra screamed.

"Terra! Terra! Let me go!" Aqua yelled, punching him in the stomach to no avail. The stewards gathered around and began prying Aqua out of Terra's chokehold.

After about ten minutes, the stewards managed to subdue Terra by using a tranquilizer. "Aah…oh," he said and fell asleep. "Oh thank God!" one of the other passengers yelled. "He finally shut up!" another said. "Well, at least this'll last us until we arrive on the islands," a steward said.

The next day, the plane landed at Destiny Islands. At the airport, a groggy Terra looked around for his luggage. After getting his luggage, he slowly walked over to the exit where his family and friends were. When he arrived, he saw a black haired girl, a spiky brown haired boy and a silver haired teen. Knowing who they are, Terra sleepily said, "Hey, Xion, Sora and Riku."

Sora looked at him and asked Ven, "What happened to him?" "Oh, he got traquilized by the stewards 'cause he kept screaming on the plane," Ven replied. "Why?" Sora asked. "'Cause he's afraid of turbulence, got it memorized?" Lea said. After everyone was ready, the group was led by Sora, Riku and Xion to their hotel. Eraqus then hoped that the vacation would go much more smoothly.

* * *

_Well, at least they made it to Destiny Islands (despite all the drama and craziness). Okay, I probably gonna load up two more chapters for this and end this story and start a new one. 'Til then, I have other stories I would like people to read and review. _


	22. Christmas Vacation, pt II

_Okay, I got more favorites on this story, but I really want reviewers or something (especially with my other stories like Bloopers of Kingdom Hearts and Book of Memories). Oh well. Okay, this is the second to last chappie in this story. I wonder what will happen when Terra finds a jet ski…_

_-miano53_

* * *

Christmas Vacation, pt. II

As Ven was asleep in the room he shared with Terra, Terra was up, watching commercials. As Terra watched the commercials, he saw a few that were disturbing. One had to do with Hot Pockets. Another was about a dating site. After being disturbed, Terra began flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch.

One channel caught his attention. There was a dark-skinned pastor from the U.S. preaching. He preached with fervor and after the message was over, the pastor began speaking. That kept Terra's attention and he was surprised at what the pastor did at the end.

What the pastor said was this. "If you tired of the devil stealin'…If you tired of the devil killin'….If you tired of the devil destroying your life…You must order a personal prayer package! And you got to order it right….NOW! WHOO!" the pastor yelled, getting louder with every sentence.

Ven woke up with a start and Terra's mouth was agape. "And get ready for…SUPER…NATURAL…MIRACLES!" the pastor yelled. Terra and Ven stared at the TV. "Okay, so if we don't, will he hunt us down?" Ven asked, scared. Terra shrugged his shoulders and turned off the TV, scarred for life.

_Later that morning (Dec 24, Terra's 20__th__ Birthday)…_

Terra was having a happy dream of his mother alive and telling him happy birthday. He thanked his mom and immediately he heard someone yell, "Go-oo-oo-od mo-oo-rn-ing! Te-ee-r-ra! Yah!" He then saw a pair of feet rocketing towards him from the sky.

Terra woke up and saw Eraqus's flying from the ceiling, falling feet first (his usual "Happy Birthday" prank). Terra woke up and grabbed his father's legs. He then slammed him to the ground and pinned him... "What are you, nuts? What kind of sick, twisted freak attacks his own son like that on his birthday?" Terra yelled at Eraqus.

"Er, Happy Birthday?" Eraqus said. "Much better. So, can I go jet skiing?" Terra said. Eraqus's face went pale as Riku's father, Niko, told the Pellegrinos that if Terra was to come near the shop, someone wasn't going back to Radiant Garden.

"Er, uh, well let's get your birthday breakfast and your presents, huh?" Eraqus said nervously. Terra was led into the living room of the suite and saw the entire area filled with presents (but not his Christmas presents). Terra leaped at the presents and saw that he got what he asked for. That year, Terra asked for munny, a life jacket, some clothes and a pair of water skis. He thanked Aqua, Ven, Eraqus and the others who were awake and received a "You're welcome" in return.

_A little bit later…_

Terra (wearing summer clothes), all ready for water skiing, had his bag of swimming clothes, his water skis and anything else needed for what he wanted to do most. He saw Aqua and Rinoa coming out of their side of the suite wearing sun dress (blue for Aqua; white and red for Rinoa). The two held their bags of sunscreens, food, lotions, baby powders and other things. When Squall (who also wore his summer clothes) and Terra saw this, Squall said, "What are you, our mothers?"

"Well, baby powder can get rid of sand if it's stuck on your skin," Rinoa said, putting on her large sunhat and sunglasses. "The sunscreens are for Ven and Isa. You know those two burn easy," Aqua said, putting on her sunglasses. "Yuffie burns easy as well, so I brought extra," Rinoa told Squall.

"Thinking about that…Where are they? We were supposed to leave for the beach an hour ago," Terra said. The four young adults then saw Eraqus, wearing his summer clothes, coming out of his room. "They've left for the beach with Sora, Riku and Xion. They told me that they were tired of waiting for you all," Eraqus said.

Terra, mad, bolted out of the hotel and headed straight for the beach. The others did the same. Once they had arrived, they saw that the beach was occupied with other swimmers, sunbathers, and anyone else you would see there. Once Terra saw Riku's boating shop, he headed straight for it, much to everyone's dismay.

At the boating shop, Terra said to the shopkeeper, "Hi. I'm here to rent a teacher and a boat." The shopkeeper turned around and screamed, "Terra! What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Mrs. Midori," Terra said meekly. Mrs. Kiyoha Midori, Riku's mother and Niko's wife, looked at Terra with fear. "Um, h-honey. T-Terra's here and he wants to rent a boat," she said to her husband in the back. Niko Midori appeared and said, "What? Why?"

"'Cause it's my birthday. I shall not be denied!" Terra said, shaking a fist. "You know you're banded from water sports around here, Terra," Niko said. "But it's my birthday! I don't see you banning anyone else around here!" Terra yelled.

"Because the others didn't destroy our shop last year," Kiyoha said. "That was an accident!" Terra said, defending himself. "Oh, ramming a jet ski into a shop while singing Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is an accident?" Niko asked. "Yeah, I didn't know that the shop was there!" Terra said.

Niko and Kiyoha sighed. Niko looked at Terra and looked at his wife. He then kissed his wife and said, "If I don't make it back…You'll know why." "Yes, I know," Kiyoha said.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Terra asked, hearing what they said. "Never mind. Since making death threats is illegal now, I guess I could let you go water skiing," Niko said. 'Yay!' Terra thought, having a little parade in his head. The two men left, leaving Kiyoha to wonder what damages Terra would do to the shop this time.

* * *

_At the beach…_

Sora, Ven and Xion were swimming in the water, racing each other. Riku was about to join when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Lea and Yuffie saw this and Lea asked, "What's wrong, emo kid?" "Hey, I'm not 'emo'!" Riku yelled.

"Okay then, what's wrong?" Aqua asked, sitting under an umbrella and putting on sunscreen. "Um, where's Terra?" Riku asked. "Uh, he should be at your father's shop. Why?" Aqua said. Riku's heart sank and he yelled, cursing and getting censored, "Aw heck no!" He then bolted towards his family's shop.

Ven, Sora and Xion saw this and got out of the water. "Uh, what's wrong with Riku," Xion asked. "I dunno," Ven said. Sora's face immediately went pale and he asked Aqua, "Um, he's not trying to get a boat rental, right?"

Ven and Aqua sighed, saying, "Sorry." "Oh heck! We gotta stop him before he wrecks the place!" Sora screamed and ran off in Riku's direction. Xion followed and so did the others that were close by.

At the Midori's shop, Aqua, Riku, Sora, Xion, Ven, and Lea (minus Yuffie who decided to take Aqua's umbrella and sleep under it) saw Terra in the water, wearing his swimming gear, his life jacket, his water skis and his gloves. He was holding onto a bar that was connected to a rope. The rope was connected to the back of Niko's boat and Riku yelled, "Terra, what are you doing?" "I'm going water skiing!" Terra replied.

Aqua, Sora and Riku, fearing for Terra's (as well as anyone else on the beach) life, hopped in Niko's boat. "Seriously, I don't need all these people to watch me water ski," Terra said. "Uh, yes you do. You know what you did the last time," Riku said, scolding the young man. "Aw, shush and start the boat!" Terra yelled.

Xion, Ven and Lea, wanting to go water skiing, headed inside of the Midori's shop. A few moments later, the three came out in the same gear as Terra. The three hopped in the boat manned by Kiyoha and sailed off to different waters, as they didn't want to crash into Niko's boat. After they were out of sight, Niko started the boat.

The first round of water skiing didn't go well for Terra…for the seventh year in a row. The boat started and Terra immediately went under. "Gurr-ro-gro-gurr! Glurr-glurr-rup! Go-rr-rug!" Terra gurgled, attempting to say "Go faster" underwater. The poor man's grip failed him and he was left out in the open water…alone.

The others on the boat saw this. Riku sighed and said, "This sucks. He's down again." He then turned to Sora and Aqua. Sora, in the two's defense, said, "I didn't invite him. Aqua did."

"Hey, it's his birthday. I can't stop him from coming to the beach," Aqua said. The three sighed while Terra, still out in the open ocean, looked around in worry. "No…This is not good times right here. This is not good at all," he said.

He then swam back to the rope and grabbed it. Niko started the boat up again and Terra was dragged through the water…again. The boat stopped and Aqua sighed, saying, "Look…t-try to stand up!" Terra, mad, yelled, "Oh was that the idea? I thought I was supposed to be DRAGGED THROUGH THE WATER…WITH MY MOUTH OPEN!"

"Just stand up!" Sora yelled from the boat. The boat started again and Terra stood up. Much to everyone's surprise, the young man began to properly water ski. "Oh yeah! Yeah!" Terra yelled in triumph.

The others on the boat began cheering and the Midori's felt relief. Well, that ended once Terra wiped out by tripping over his own water skis. The poor guy triple-flipped on the water and sadly began flipping out towards the open ocean. "Aah! I…HATE…WATER SKIING!" Terra screamed while flipping farther out into open ocean.

* * *

_With Isa, Rinoa, Squall and Eraqus…_

The four were content with burning themselves to a crisp out in the hot sun. Rinoa, putting on sunscreen, looked around and said to Squall, "You know. We should move here once we're married." "Uh, who said we're getting married anytime soon?" Squall asked. Rinoa looked at him with disbelief and yelled, "I can't believe you! You're going out with that whore Tifa, aren't you?"

"What? No and for the last time, she's dating Cloud," Squall said, knowing where the conversation was going. "So, if it's not Tifa, who is it then? Is it Aerith?" Rinoa yelled. "No," Squall said.

"You lie! You lie!" Rinoa screamed. "I'm telling the truth," Squall sighed. "Then it's probably that bimbo named Fang, isn't it?" Rinoa yelled. "No, Fang and I are just classmates," Squall sighed, ignoring Rinoa's rants.

"Liar! I saw how you looked at her!" Rinoa yelled. "Did you take your medicine for anxiety today?" Squall asked. "No, but that's not the point! You wanna dump me and go out with your harem of bimbos and whores," Rinoa yelled.

"'Harem'? I only know Fang due to class. Aerith, Tifa and I are just friends. We were all friends in high school with Terra, Aqua, Cloud and Angeal," Squall said, wondering if Rinoa needed medical attention.

Rinoa ignored him and kept going with her crazy rants. "You are not leaving me! No man leaves me and lives to tell about it!" she screamed. She then pulled out a hairbrush and began beating Squall with it. Since Squall was used to pain, due to his experience in sports (was on the soccer and fencing teams in high school), he shrugged it off.

That ended once Rinoa attempted to choke him with the brush (don't ask). "Prof. Pellegrino! Can I get some help over here?" Squall yelled. "You're mine! No one can have you!" Rinoa yelled, cackling evilly.

Eraqus, knowing Rinoa left her pills, walked over to them with a sedative dart. He then shot the sedative in Rinoa's arm. "Oh, that's good….That fe-ee-ee-ls go-oo-oo-od," Rinoa said, now high on the medicine.

She then passed out on Squall's shoulder, snoring. Squall sighed at the newfound peace and moved Rinoa onto the beach towel. "That was close. She never tried to kill me with a hairbrush before," Squall said. "Um, after we are done with this vacation, may I suggest that you send her to therapy?" Eraqus said. "Anything to keep her from killing me," Squall said, not knowing why Rinoa accused him of things he didn't do.

While all that was happening, Isa walked around on the beach. He spotted a stand for Sea-Salt ice cream and immediately went over to get some. Once he paid for his and Yuffie's ice cream bars, someone asked him, "Excuse me. Have you seen my cousin around?"

Isa turned around and saw a red-haired, blue eyed girl wearing a pink sundress standing behind him. "Um, who?" Isa asked. "Oh, she has black hair and eyes like mine," the girl said. "Oh, you mean Xion?" Isa asked. "Yeah, have you seen her?" the girl asked.

"Um, I think she went with my friends to go water skiing," Isa said. "Why aren't you with them?" the girl asked. "Oh, I dunno. Maybe it's because one of my friends forbade me to speak to him or even do things with him over that stupid argument over peanut butter," Isa said.

"Peanut butter? That's dumb," the girl said. "I know, right? Peanut butter should never be something one obsesses over," Isa said. "Oh, he kinda sounds like Prof. Even and his obsession with chocolate," the girl said.

"Wait, you know Prof. Even?" Isa asked her. "Yup. He works for my great-uncle," the girl said. "Your great-uncle isn't…?" Isa asked. "Ansem the Wise? Yup," the girl said.

Isa was about to say something when someone yelled, "Kairi?" The girl, Kairi, turned around and saw Sora, Riku and Aqua. "Sora, Riku!" Kairi exclaimed and hugged the two. Kairi looked at Aqua and asked, "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Aqua. You remember that she's the one who has the brother who nearly killed the life guard two years ago," Sora said. "Oh, so where is he?" Kairi asked. "He's out at sea…somewhere," Riku said, not caring as Terra did destroy the Midori's business last year.

"Wait, so you guys aren't gonna call the Coast Guard?" Kairi yelled in disbelief. "Oh, he's fine," Isa said, pointing in the direction of the shore. The group looked in that direction and saw Terra walking out of the water. He was covered head to toe in seaweed and the group tried to suppress their laughter.

He glared at Sora and Riku and said, "You…You will rue this day." "Well, at least you're safe, Terra," Aqua said, giggling. "Oh, laugh it up!" Terra said, removing seaweed from his swim attire. "Seriously, how did you get back here?" Sora asked.

"I swam back!" Terra yelled. "I thought he was bad at swimming," Sora mumbled. "Yeah, especially after he nearly drowned three years ago," Riku mumbled. "That's not the point! I am getting back on the boat and I'll be darned if you guys leave me out there like that again!" Terra yelled, heading back for the boat. The group followed him and, much to Terra's dismay, the poor guy wiped out when the boat took off…again.

* * *

_With Xion, Ven and Lea…_

The three were having fun skiing on the water. There were only a few wipeouts from Ven and Lea, but nothing major like Terra's. When it was Xion's turn, she went into the water, grabbed the rope and braced herself. When the boat took off, she happily screamed (more like squealing like a pig), "Whee! Whee! Whee-whee-whee!"

"Whee! Whee!" Xion kept screaming. Her moment of fun ended when Lea and Ven saw her go up a ramp. Xion's grip failed her and she began screaming.

"Aah! Aah-aah-aah!" she screaming, hitting the water at 60 mph. Xion fell in with a loud splash and the boat began to circle around to find her. Lea and Ven, not seeing her surface after 20 seconds, jumped in.

Kiyoha looked at the water, wondering if the girl drowned. 'We'll be closed up for sure,' Kiyoha thought, examining the water. After a few moments, she saw Ven, Lea and Xion surface. "There you are. What happened?" Kiyoha yelled.

"She got caught by some seaweed," Ven said, getting on the boat. Xion brushed the seaweed off of herself and the four continued water skiing. That is, until they heard screaming coming from the other side of the water…

_Back with Terra, Aqua, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Isa…_

The group kept skiing but Terra was not allowed to touch a water ski, or the water for that matter. Since he wasn't allowed to join them, he sat on the beach, sulking. That is, until he got the idea to "take" one of the jet skis and ride on it. 'I shall jet ski this year!' Terra thought evilly.

He went into the Midori's shop and snuck to the dock area. There, he found three jet skis. One was the newest of the three. Terra took that one and hopped on it. Sadly, the poor guy wiped out the instant he sat on it.

The Jet Ski tipped over and Terra said, "No. No. No." He then fell into the water and he could've sworn he heard the first Jet Ski laugh.

Terra swam back to the dock and hopped towards the second one. Before he could, however, the Jet Ski moved. The poor guy fell straight into the water, headfirst. As he floated back up, he looked at the second Jet Ski and said, "Darn you!"

Terra then looked at the last Jet Ski and hopped on it. He then noticed that the Jet Ski didn't move or laughed. "Okay, lets ride!" he yelled. Sadly, the instant he turned it on, the Jet Ski roared with live and took off with Terra screaming.

As Aqua, Sora and Riku were out on the water, the three could hear screaming coming from the Midori's shop. "Huh? Was that Terra?" Aqua asked. "Are you sure that's Terra?" Sora asked.

"Yep, I know that high-pitched squeal anywhere," Aqua said. Riku's face went pale again and saw Terra out on the ocean. The poor guy was riding an out of control Jet Ski and was screaming the whole time. "Oh God help us," Riku mumbled.

"Aah!" Terra screamed, holding onto the handlebars for dear life. He was speeding towards Niko's boat and the four on the boat began screaming. "Aah!" they screamed. "Aah!" Terra screamed.

Much to their relief (but to the beachgoers horror), Terra turned the Jet Ski and bolted for the beach. Squall, Rinoa (who woke up), Yuffie and Eraqus saw this and saw that he was headed straight for them. "Aah!" they all screamed.

"Aah!" Terra screamed loudly. The young man crashed into a sand dune on the beach and was thrown into the air. Terra sailed through the air and managed to bypass Squall and the others. "Whew," Yuffie, Rinoa and Eraqus sighed. Squall said nothing as he saw where Terra was about to crash.

The projectile path was into a family that was grilling on the beach. They saw Terra flying towards them and all the family could do was scream. As if time slowed down, Eraqus saw the damage Terra had done. Terra crashed into the father of the family that screamed.

The father threw his tongs he was using for the grill and the tongs hit a beach goer who was playing volleyball. The player smack the ball towards another beach goer who was playing with a Frisbee. That person was hit in the face with the ball and they accidentally threw the Frisbee towards another beach goer. That beach goer was riding in a dune buggy and the instant the Frisbee hit them in the face, the dune buggy swerved out of control.

The dune buggy and driver crashed into the lifeguard's tower and destroyed the base. The lifeguard (the same one that was nearly killed by Terra) screamed, "Not again!" The tower tipped over and the lifeguard jumped off. The tower crashed onto a parked car and the car's alarm blared.

Terra, recovering after crashing into a grilling beach goer, looked around and said, "Oops." "Terra!" he heard Ven yell. Ven and the others arrived and Terra said, "I'm gonna get banned from here, aren't I?"

Niko, amazed, looked at the damaged car and said, "No. You've actually done something good for a change." "He did?" everyone else yelled. "Yep. He destroyed the governor of this island's car. Seriously, everyone hates the governor. So, this is his just desserts for taking away our free health care," Kiyoha said, looking at the car.

"Well, we should probably report what happened. They'll most likely rule this out as an accident," Riku said, still somewhat shocked at what happened. The Midori family then headed for the lifeguard to explain what happened. While they did that, Terra and the others headed back to the hotel.

While all that happened, two Jet Skis with minds of their own began laughing hysterically. "Next time, we should send Sora into the water headfirst," the first Jet Ski said, laughing. "Yeah, and I wipe out when Riku wants to go to the smaller island," the second said. "Do you think Number 3's okay?" the first asked. "I dunno. She suffered a hard hit to the head when Terra crashed her," the second said, sounding worried. "Oh well," the two said and went back to their usual, nonliving selves.

* * *

_Okay, Terra managed to destroy the governor of Destiny Islands' car. I wonder if he'll get in trouble. And what's with the Jet Skis talking and laughing? I guess they were possessed! XD_


	23. Christmas Vacation, pt III

_Okay, this is the finale. Thankies to everyone that reviewed this story and I may not start another one of these until maybe after I'm finished with Book of Memories and Bloopers of Kingdom Hearts. Maybe…Oh and another thing, Niko, Riku's father, looks almost exactly like Riku…and certain silver-haired people in this story…Sora's dad and mom both have the brown hair, blue eyes thing going on…_

_-miano53_

* * *

Christmas Vacation, pt. III

_December 25__th__ at the hotel…_

Ven woke up to the sound of wrapping paper being ripped and squeals of delight. He got out of bed and headed for the suite's living room. There, he found Aqua, Terra, Squall and Rinoa opening up presents. He also saw Yuffie, Isa and Lea opening up there presents in the kitchen. "Hey, Merry Christmas, buddy," Lea said, throwing Ven's present.

Ven caught it and quickly opened it. He saw that it was a Gloomy Bear puppet. 'And what am I gonna do with this?' Ven thought. He looked around and saw that everyone else was getting bad gifts too.

Squall opened up his gift and saw that it was….a pair of pajamas. He looked at Rinoa, who gave it to him, and said, "Not even close." "You can take it back if you don't like it," Rinoa said to him.

"Nah, don't worry. I'm just gonna throw it out. Don't give me an errand," Squall said, being mean. That made Rinoa sad.

Terra opened up his gift from Rinoa and was in the same mood as Squall. 'The heck?' he thought. His present from Rinoa was…sadly, a pair of socks. He sighed and said loudly, "You know I gave you 10,000 munny, Rinoa."

Aqua and Yuffie was afraid of what they got from Rinoa. The two opened up their presents and saw that she bought them…a candle. Aqua sighed and said to Rinoa, "You know, we got electricity. Seriously, if the house stinks, just let me know."

Yuffie stared at the candle and was equally as angry. "Well, this is perfect. I know what I'm getting you next year. This…Your candle gifts," Yuffie said, whispering the last part evilly.

Isa and Lea opened up their presents from Rinoa and saw that she had bought them…robes. Isa looked at his and said, "Wow, I hope I get the flu so I can wear it." Lea looked at his and said, "What are we about to do? Shoot a porno?"

The last one to get his gift from Rinoa was Eraqus. He, with trembling hands, opened his gift. He was then shocked to see what it was. It…was a check for 200,000 munny.

"Oh…my…God," Eraqus said, shocked. The others looked at the check and then looked back at Rinoa. "You…cheap….bas…!" Terra was about to yelled when Rinoa interrupted him. "That's thanks for letting us go on this trip," Rinoa said.

* * *

_Later, at the Midori household…_

Kiyoha and Sora's mom, Mameha, were in the Midori's kitchen, cooking the food for the Christmas feast. Riku began cleaning the halls, rooms and living room of the house. Niko cleaned both the basement and the bathroom. Xion was charged with setting the table. Tetsuya, Sora's father, was charged with getting the last minute groceries for the feast while Sora was charged with sprucing up the Christmas tree.

The reason for them preparing like this was that the Midori and the Nakamura's (Sora's family) were hosting a Christmas party in the Midori's relatively spacious home (was close in size to a mansion). The relatives and friends of the families were invited and Niko Midori was worried about this one thing. He was worried about his relatives coming over. When Kiyoha saw this, she said, "Don't worry. Xehanort usually keeps to himself and Xemnas usually have his business calls."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Niko said. "You're worried about Grandpa, right?" Riku asked loudly. "Yes, especially since your grandmother, Satsu, is coming over," Niko said, looking worried. Remembering the nasty divorce his grandmother and grandfather had, Riku became extremely worried.

In the kitchen, the women were busy preparing the feast. Remembering what Kiyoha said about Riku's grandmother, Mother Satsu, Mameha said, "Well, I just hope that Senior and Mother Satsu don't try to kill each other again like they did for Thanksgiving." "I don't it. You remember what happened last time," Kiyoha said to her friend.

Mameha, remembering with fear, said, "Yeah. Mother Satsu threw her butcher knife at Senior's head. The two then began throwing knives and shooting at each other. We had to call the police on those two."

"That's why Niko's so worried. We have our friends coming over and I told the two to be on their best behavior. Senior told me not to worry, but Mother Satsu said nothing," Kiyoha said to her friend. The conversation ended once the door opened.

For that Christmas, it was raining quite heavily on Destiny Islands (as a thunderstorm rolled through the islands). Sadly, Sora's father, Tetsuya Nakamura, had to go out in the rain to get ingredients for the feast. So, when he opened the door, wind and rain came blowing into the kitchen. Tetsuya (wearing his brown overcoat and hat) glared at Kiyoha and Mameha and the two couldn't help but laugh as he was drenched from head to toe.

Tetsuya, closed the door, walked over to the kitchen's island and placed the brown bag of groceries on it. He then looked at Kiyoha under his wet brown hat and said, "You sent me out…for groceries…on Christmas. Every store is closed. I drove 20 miles into the jungle and found a place called 'Lucky Stop Market'. There was a line longer than the Great Wall of China in there. I got the food and I attempted to drive back here only to have the car stall 5 miles from the house. I got out and walked the rest of the way to find you two laughing at me."

Mameha, who was cooking the turkey, lamb, ham, and fish, walked over to the bag and opened it. She was disappointed as she asked for her husband to get eggs, milk, nutmeg, and dinner rolls. He only bought the dinner rolls. So, she looked up at him and said, "Honey, you forgot the eggs, milk and nutmeg."

Kiyoha then added, "You also forgot the canned pumpkin for the pie, _sake_ for Mother Satsu and marshmallows for the sweet potatoes." Tetsuya looked at the women and said, "You didn't ask me for that."

"Yes we did. You say that 'I have it all in my head. I don't need a list'," Mameha said. Tetsuya then saw Sora (who was done with the tree and hungry) enter the kitchen to help.

"Sora, is your mom making sweet potato pie?" he asked. "Yeah, mostly for Aqua, Yuffie, Mr. Pellegrino and Terra," Sora replied. "Well then, Mameha, just put some whipped cream on the pies and say that it's pumpkin! No one can tell the difference!" Tetsuya yelled.

"Seriously, just go and get the nutmeg and the other stuff," Mameha said. Tetsuya headed over to the cabinet and found nutmeg. "It's nutmeg right here. Just use it!" he said.

"This is NOT fresh!" Mameha said, taking the nutmeg and throwing it away. "Now, go and get the nutmeg. Here's my keys. Use my car," she added. Tetsuya looked out the window and said, "You gonna send me all the way out there for a NUT?"

"Nutmeg. And there are other things on the list that you forgot," Mameha said. "You want a dozen eggs, a can of pumpkin, milk, _sake, _and a nut!" Tetsuya said. He then headed for the door, opened it (with wind and rain blowing in his face) and turned to the three in the kitchen. He glared at them and left the house, closing the door behind him.

In the dining room, Riku was about to help Xion with the place settings when he noticed that one of the place settings (in the shape of a snowman) had his name on it. He was place with Sora, Xion, Kairi and Ven at…the children's table. "Aw…heck NO!" Riku yelled.

"What's wrong?" Xion asked. "You don't know what's wrong? We're at the children's table! The CHILDREN'S TABLE WOMAN!" Riku yelled loudly.

"What's wrong with that?" Xion asked. "You don't know the history behind that table. Whenever the adults don't want us in their conversations, they place us 'younglings' at the children's table. This would be my 15th time!" Riku yelled.

Xion tried not to laugh and said, "Well, that's not a children's table. It's a teen's table." Riku lifted up the tablecloth and said, "You can't tell me this isn't a children's table! It's my dad's card table!"

"Well, at least we get to eat at a table. Others around the world can't. Like in Africa. They have to eat on the ground," Xion said. Riku kept mumbling until he heard a knock at the door.

He ran over to it and opened it. Kairi came in, holding a cake box. "Hey, Riku. Merry Christmas. Do you mind if the guards come in with the gifts?" she asked.

"No, just have them put them over by the Christmas tree," Riku said. The legion of guards came in and began setting down the gifts. Some of them, after they were done, stayed behind to protect Kairi. When they did, Kiyoha came into the living room and ordered the men to head into the basement to watch football.

To their dismay, they did and Kairi went into the kitchen to help the others (knowing Sora was going to mess up something). When she was gone, Riku heard another knock at the door. When he opened it, he screamed, "You're here?" Who he saw enter was his uncle, Xehanort, Jr., his friend and colleague, Sazh and Sazh's seven-year-old son, Dajh.

He was holding an oversize bowl of salad and Sazh and Dajh walked in front of him. "Hello, Riku. Where do I put this?" Prof. Xehanort asked. "Uh, you can take it to Xion in the dining room. But, how did you get it in the car," Riku asked.

"We didn't. We strapped it to the roof," Sazh said. "Little Dajh was trigger happy with the salad," Sazh explained, Xehanort heading for the kitchen.

"But the colors were so pretty," Dajh (who looked like a cute, mini-Sazh) said. "It looked pretty with the purple, green, red, orange, brown…" Dajh said, falling into a trance. Sazh saw this and said, "Uh, Dajh. Dajh? Little man? Snap out of it."

Dajh did and looked around. "What happened?" the child asked. "You fell into a trance, talking about the salad," Riku explained.

Kiyoha, hearing them, ordered the boys to head into the basement. "But I wanna help!" Dajh said. "You can help by not getting in our way. That includes you, Junior! Now, you four, head into the basement and watch TV. We'll call you when dinner's ready," Kiyoha said, heading back into the kitchen.

* * *

_About thirty minutes later…_

Kairi, who began helping in the preparation for the vegetables, heard the door open. Kiyoha, Mameha and Kairi turned around and saw Tetsuya enter the kitchen. He was drenched even more and his hat began slumping down. His coat was soaked to the point where water was dripping from it. The bag he was holding was so wet that one wrong move would send the contents falling.

He glared at the women and said, placing the bag on the island, "There's your dumb canned pumpkin. Your silly eggs and your nut!" Kiyoha opened up the bag and saw that he only had nutmeg and canned pumpkin. "You forgot the _sake, _the eggs, milk and marshmallows," Kiyoha said.

Mameha went to the bag and saw that there was just the pumpkin and nutmeg. "There's eggs in there! And the other stuff too! I don't care what that bag said! The stuff's in there!" Tetsuya yelled, getting frustrated.

Mameha picked up the receipt and said, "But on the receipt it says, 'Canned Pumpkin, Canned Pumpkin and Nutmeg'." Tetsuya looked at her, glared at Kiyoha and bowed to Kairi. "I'll get the dang stuff," he said and left, muttering curses.

Back in the dining room, Xion, who remembered to place Dajh at their table, finished up setting the place mats. "Okay, now it's time to place the dishes," she said, moving a cart into the large dining room. "Um, now where's the fork supposed to be again…? European or American?" she said, looking at the forks and table.

She stopped when she heard another knock at the door. Xion went to the door and opened it. When she did, she screamed to the tops of her lungs, "WHY?" Who she saw was Riku's uncle, Xemnas O'Sullivan, and grandfather, Xehanort, Sr., coming in while a bolt of lightning appeared and a thunder clap sounded.

"That's no way to talk to guest," Senior said, handing Xion a bowl and taking off his coat. "Er, what's in the bowl?" Xion asked, afraid. Xemnas (COO of ShinRa Tech) stopped his cell phone conversation, took off his coat and said, "Curried Goat." The two men then headed for the basement, under orders from Kiyoha, and Xion said, "Er, wow. Um, I dunno if anyone's gonna eat it."

After putting the bowl in the kitchen, Xion heard another knock at the door. This time she was happy as Ven and the others arrived. Taking off their wet jackets, Xion told the men to head for the basement. The girls were to head into the kitchen to help make dinner.

In the dining room, Aqua saw the place setting and helped Rinoa and Xion place the dishes. As they did, Aqua said, "Wow, there's a lot of cars outside." "Yeah, Riku's grandpa, uncles and his grandma's supposed to come," Xion said.

The three stopped once they heard another knock at the door. Aqua opened it and saw Tetsuya glaring at her. "Er, hello, Mr. Nakamura. Are you okay?" Aqua said, looking scared.

"Tell Kiyoha here's her danged milk, her _sake_, marshmallows and…" Tetsuya said, handing Aqua the items. Sadly, he dropped the box of dozen eggs onto the floor. Tetsuya looked down, glared at Aqua, Xion and Rinoa, turned around and left the house. 'Okay, he's sure not having any luck today,' Aqua thought.

After cleaning up the mess of eggs, Xion heard a knock at the door. When she did, she screamed loudly as she saw Riku's grandmother, Satsu. Satsu entered the house with the rain pouring down, wind blowing and lightning flashing. Her appearance made her look more menacing than usual, cause for the scream.

"I mean…um, hello, Mother O'Sullivan…I mean, Ms. Midori!" Xion said. Mother Satsu looked at Xion and said, "Hmmph. I don't know what my grandson sees in ya." She then waddled over to the kitchen, where she was greeted by screams of terror.

In the kitchen, Kiyoha and Mameha replied with a "You're here?" "Why are you so surprised? My son invited me," Mother Satsu said with a raspy voice.

"Uh, um, N-Niko, your mom's here!" Kiyoha yelled. Niko quickly ran up the stairs and greeted his mom with a scream. "Aah! Er, I mean…Hi mom," Niko said.

"Mother's here?" Xehanort, Jr. asked, coming up the stairs. The instant he saw his mother, he screamed, nearly breaking the windows. The reason for the scream was that he saw that his mother had wrinkles all over her face due to her constantly glaring. She wore her best wig in the color brown and she wore something that would be considered the "Old Mother's" outfit (a house dress and shoes).

"Aah!" Prof. Xehanort, Jr. screamed with a high pitched scream. Mother Satsu glared at him, causing him to scream even more. "Who is screaming like that?" Niko and Prof. Xehanort heard their eldest brother say.

Xemnas came up the stairs and saw his mother. He looked at her, then back at Niko and Prof. Xehanort. Then he looked at Kiyoha and Mameha. He then looked back at his mother. "Excuse me. I'll be right back," Xemnas said and left the house.

Within seconds, everyone heard Xemnas say every available curse word known to man. Since he screamed loudly, everyone on Destiny Islands heard him. Once he was finished, he reentered the house, went into the kitchen and headed back to the basement.

Riku, hearing that, came up the stairs and saw his grandmother. Mother Satsu saw him and said, "Oh, if it isn't my sweet Riku." Riku, remembering all the things his grandma did to Sora, him and Xion, screamed, "AAH! MAMA, DON'T LET HER HURT ME!"

Riku ran behind his mom and began trembling in fear. "That's no way to talk to your grandma," Mother Satsu said. "Yeah? The last time I said hi, you burned me with a cigarette!" Riku yelled.

"That was discipline," Mother Satsu said. "But I didn't do anything!" Riku yelled. "The time before that, you stepped on his toes on purpose," Niko said. "It was an accident," Mother Satsu said.

"Yeah, if laughing evilly is an apology," Prof. Xehanort said. "Well, Riku still turned out okay because of me well-training my sons," Mother Satsu said. "By 'training' you mean burning kids with cigarettes 'cause you were mad with Dad, then sure, sure," Prof. Xehanort said with sarcasm.

* * *

_At the dinner table…_

After blessing the food, the families (including poor Tetsuya) and their friends began enjoying the feast. Kiyoha, happy that no one (by no one, I mean Xehanort O'Sullivan, Sr. and Mother Satsu) tried to start any shenanigans. That ended once Mother Satsu received a bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Niko, are you stupid? You know mashed potatoes give me gas," Mother Satsu said. She then began complaining on how Xemnas barely saw her during the year. "You know, in my day, Xemnas, people used to spend time with their family on Sundays and special occasions to pay their respects," Mother Satsu said.

Xemnas ignored her and Mother Satsu began coughing. Xehanort Sr. then said to everyone, "You all better cover your plates before she contaminates it." Everyone, including the guests at both tables, covered their plates.

"Mother…drink some water," Niko said. Mother Satsu did and Riku mumbled, "Grandma, you spat on me." Mother Satsu looked at her ex-husband and said, "Don't start Senior. I'll kick your butt!"

Mother Satsu then noticed Squall, Terra, Sazh and Eraqus. "Ooh, we got some strong, young gentlemen at the table this year," she said. Kiyoha face palmed and Rinoa began to glare at the old mother.

"I remember my first escapade with a gentleman your age, son," Mother Satsu said to Terra. "Mom!" Niko and Prof. Xehanort yelled. Kiyoha and Mameha sighed and Xion covered poor Dajh's ears.

Mother Satsu began talking about her little…_escapades_ with young men that resulted in…"having relations". Xemnas face palmed. Riku, Sora, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Kairi and Xion (still covering Dajh's ears) looked horrified. Squall, Rinoa, Sazh and Eraqus stared at the old woman and their faces turned green.

The heads of the Nakamura and Midori clans looked so embarrassed that most would say that they clans "distanced themselves from her". Xehanort, Sr., embarrassed and angry, said, "I will like to volunteer to take this old bird out of her misery."

"Father!" the Midori/O'Sullivan men yelled. "You all don't have to protect me from Baldy here. C'mon Senior. C'mon. It's nothing but a short walk. C'mon," Mother Satsu said, goading Xehanort, Sr.

"You walk over here, but you'll be limping back. Don't let this wig and my gender fool you. I'm not a easy fight," Mother Satsu added.

"Hmm, one would not be able to tell…" Xehanort Sr. said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mother Satsu asked. "Oh no. Here we go again," Riku said.

"What?" Xehanort, Sr. asked. "What are you trying to say?" Mother Satsu asked. "Well, one would not be able to tell that you're a woman, Wig-i-lina. You look more like an old cross dresser," Xehanort, Sr. said.

Prof. Xehanort, Xemnas and Kiyoha left the table. Mother Satsu didn't see then and picked up her knife. "Keep trying, Senior. Keep trying. I'll toss this between the crack of your butt!" Mother Satsu said, holding up the knife.

That's when Eraqus, Aqua, Terra and Niko left. "I'd like to see you try," Xehanort Sr. told Mother Satsu. Mother Satsu then threw the knife.

Xehanort Sr. ducked and the knife nearly hit Riku. That's when everyone left the children's table. Tetsuya and Mameha left the table and a war broke out between the older former couple.

The war only lasted for twelve seconds as the two tired themselves out, throwing knives. The families reentered the now knife-filled room and began eating again. 'Let's hope nothing else happens…' Riku thought.

* * *

_Late that night (after all the guest, minus the Nakamura family, left)…._

Riku, wondering why his grandparents really got a divorce, walked to the guest room where his grandmother was to stay. He knocked on the door and heard his grandmother say, "Who is it?" "Grandma, it's me. I just wanna talk," Riku said entering the room.

He then noticed that the room's lights were off and turned on the lights. When he did, he saw Mother Satsu and….Xehanort, Sr. come out from under the covers. Knowing what they did, Riku screamed, "GRANNY NO!"

"AAH! YOU…HIM HERE! UGH! I need a moment," Riku said, sitting on a nearby chair. "I'm nearly an adult. I can handle this…I'm okay," Riku added, calming himself.

He then turned to his grandparents and looked away, screaming, "GRANNY NO!" Kiyoha and Niko (wearing their pajamas) entered the room and said, "What's wrong, Riku?" The two saw the older former couple in the bed and was shocked.

Xion (who stayed the night due to Sora and his parents staying over) ran in and said, "What's going on?" She then looked at the older couple, who looked embarrassed, and said, "Ew."

Xion then left. Sora entered and thought something stupid. "What's this? A pajama party? Move over!" Sora said, excitedly.

Niko and Kiyoha grabbed Sora's pajama collar and threw him out of the room. His parents then entered and Mameha said, "We heard a scream… _Hey_."

Everyone was then kicked out by Riku. After they left, he turned to his grandparents and said, "Granny…Grandpa…I just have to say that I'm hurt. And I don't think a divorced couple should…do what you….OMG, I JUST GOT A MENTAL PICTURE! GET OUT! GET OUT!" He then left the room, hitting himself in the head to force the…horrible, nightmare visions out of his head.

* * *

_Well that's the finale. Thankies to everyone who read and reviewed the story. Part two will come after I get finished with some stuff. When I get a job, my posts probably won't be as frequent, so just wait and see for the second installment :D_

_-miano53_


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